


Lightning in a Bottle

by iiMaddHatz



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: A little angst, Blow Jobs, Eventual Smut, Explcit stuff starts in ch6 then every other chapter or so, F/M, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Mutual Pining, Oral Sex, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Please stop hurting David, Poor boy deserves the world, Self-Insert, Slow Burn, Takes place sometime in Season 2, Vaginal Fingering, Will have both F/M and M/M in explicit stuff, mostly just fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-09-25
Packaged: 2019-06-26 10:09:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 38,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15661074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iiMaddHatz/pseuds/iiMaddHatz
Summary: As Camp Campbell's newest Co-Counselor, it's part of your job to know the mountain trails. Too bad that means you have to spend the whole day with your least favorite coworker. Learning the trails goes from frustrating to worse when you and David get lost.





	1. Over the Edge

You didn't take this job because you loved the outdoors. On the contrary, you consider yourself to be much more accustomed to living in the city. But after dropping out of college and not being able to afford a place by yourself--but not wanting to move back in with your parents--a gig at a summer camp with lodging included sounded like a great idea. 

And maybe it would have been a pretty good idea, the kids were weird but all right and you at third of a cabin to yourself, even half of your coworkers were pretty cool, but the other half. The other half of your coworkers you couldn't stand. 

To be fair, you only had two co-counselors and a quartermaster, but you didn't really count him as a coworker seeing how he was never around. Gwen and you had hit it off right away with similar disinterest in what went on in the camp and useless degrees from college. But David. David. His ever cheerful attitude and bad habit of only seeing the good in people you couldn't stand. When you first met, you had thought it had been an act, or even just initial excitement of having a new co-counselor, but after two weeks of staying on the mountain you had figured out this was just how he was. All the time. 

So how you got looped into going on a nature hike alone with him, you weren't sure. It had something to do with Gwen bailing on you the last minute, and David stepping up to the plate instantly. You could have refused, but you had yet to actually learn the trails, and as a camp counselor you felt you had an obligation to do so after two weeks. Even if it meant putting up with the energy-draining ball of cheer that was your co-counselor. 

Your cabin door slammed open and David's excited voice ripped you from a semi peaceful rest. “Goooooood morning, co-counselor! Are you ready for our nature hike today?” 

You snatched a pillow off of your bed and chucked it at him, which he reflexively dodged. You groaned and flopped back into the bed, flipping the covers over your head. 

“I know you were hoping to go with Gwen, but just think of the fun we’re going to have on the trail together,” you didn't even need see him to know he was smiling. You groaned again but removed the blankets only to be greeted by a pair of bright green eyes and an award-winning grin. “I'll give you five minutes but then you better be ready to head out. We have a lot of trails to go over!” 

And with that he was gone, the door slamming shut behind him. You pressed your palms into your sleep-ridden eyes and sat up with a yawn. Dragging your feet, you pulled on you uniform and swept your hair through with a brush before slinging your backpack over your shoulders. Made it outside with a minute to spare.

David was standing a few feet from your door, glancing at his watch. When he saw you, that face-splitting smile returned, “Alllllll right! You ready to go?” 

You adjusted your pack and tried to mentally prepare yourself, “As I'll ever be.”

He did a little jog in place before leading you towards the forest behind the mess hall. As the two of you passed by, the campers were heading into the hall for breakfast. One of the shortest kids broke away from the line when he saw you trailing behind David. “And where are you two going exactly?” Max eyed you suspiciously. 

“Learning the mountain with Mr. Sunshine there,” you purposely lagged behind and kept your voice down. 

“Oh,” Max grumbled, shoving his hands into his hoodie pocket.

You knew you weren't supposed to have favorites but the little ball of anger and scheming that was Max had really clicked with you. “We should be back by sundown. Don't give Gwen too hard of a time while I'm gone okay?”

He scoffed, “And you don't hesitate to push David off a cliff while you're out there okay?” Sniggering you agreed. 

David, who had been raving about the mountain the whole time, finally realized you were about a hundred yards back from him and came running up. “Max? Aren't you supposed to be in the mess hall right now?” 

“I mean probably, but I'm not in the mood for Quartermasters slop,” he said. 

David crossed his arms, “Quartermaster works very hard to on his meals for you campers. I'm not saying that you have to like it, but breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” 

But Max was already heading back towards Neil and Nikki, defiantly ignoring everything his camp counselor had to say. “Remember what I said about cliffs,” he smirked to you. 

Returning to your spot behind David, you trudged into the forest. You spritzed bug spray as you trodded along, the crisp morning air nipping at your skin. You found yourself ignoring David to the best of your ability as he monologued about nature. Unsuccessfully. 

“And that is an elm tree, you can tell the difference by the shape of its leaves, you often find them growing around the camp,” he excitedly pointed out. The morning air was crisp, but you were sure it would probably start heating up before long. You followed David deeper into the forest, sticking to the path. His constant talking and dramatic movements were starting to grate on your nerves. 

“Oh, I'm sure you're hungry, skipping breakfast and everything,” David handed you an energy bar that he must have had stowed away in one of his pockets. Indifferently, you thanked him. 

“I don't think I need to know all this about trees,” you said taking a bite of the bar. It tasted like saw dust. 

David shrugged, “But why not learn something while we're out?” 

You grumbled something inaudible around the bar but David either didn't hear or care because he resumed his talk on the sharp-leafed plant that you learned was called yucca. Oh god. You were learning something from him. You hadn't dropped out of school for more learning. Especially from David. Damn it. 

Eventually you gave up on interrupting and let him talk, opting to finish the energy bar instead. Glancing at your watch you found that you had only been walking forty minutes. You internally groaned. How one person can chatter constantly for forty minutes and make it feel like four hours you weren't sure, but David had somehow managed it. 

You felt something in you that was already pulled taught stretch just a bit further every time David opened his mouth. “Hey, David?” 

“And that's why I- yes co-counselor?” he asked. 

“Would it be okay if we walked in silence? Just for a little bit?” you begged, trying your best to maintain your professionalism. 

David rubbed the back of his neck, glancing down at the forest floor, “I'm sorry, was I talking to much? It's... It's just the first time that you and I have been able to hang out outside of work...”

“N-no! I just thought that it would be nice to just enjoy all of this nature without taking about it,” you lied. 

His face lit back up, “Oh! Of course!” he ran fingers along this mouth, zipping his lips. 

After that, the only sounds you heard were the cicadas in the trees and the padding of your footsteps along the dirt trail. The forest around the camp really was beautiful. Lots of green with the occasional chipmunk or rabbit darting from one hiding place to another. The trees, which you could now name by looking at them, were mostly pine, provided a good amount of protection from the rising sun. 

You tried to keep and eye out for landmarks and places where campers might hide if they ran off into the forest. Stepping over a little stream, you finally reached a fork in the road. A large wooden sign stood at the center, whatever text was originally printed on it had long decayed, leaving only scribbles behind. 

“So which way do you want to go first? Right or left?” David asked, pointing in each direction respectively. 

“Does it matter?”

“Well the left leads to the foot paths and mostly stays around the base of the mountain, the right is more hiking and leads up to the top,” he explains, tilting his head to one side. 

You point right. “We can take care of the hard stuff first while it's it's still kind of cool and then an easier time when it's hot out.” 

“Good point!” he agreed before setting off. “Your already a natural at this.”

“Isn't that just basic logic?” you groaned. “David, you don't have to treat me like a kid.”

You saw him stiffen a bit. “I guess being around all those campers has me in that habit. I won't do it again.”

The roads started to become less obvious and more integrated with the nature surrounding them. They narrowed and wound through the trees, starting to become steeper. David had resumed his pointing out of nature, but had toned it down considerably, mostly sticking to landmarks to help you keep track of where you are. Really, you didn't find that it was too bad so far. Sure, he was a nature junkie and more than bit of a dork, but when he toned down the excitement he was... tolerable. 

Struggling over a rock, you found yourself sway a bit, threatening to fall when David gripped your upper arm and steadied you. “Whoa! Careful there,” he stepped past you onto the next rock and offered his hand. You took it, already threatening to lose your balance again and hopped after him. 

“I didn't realize how steep this mountain got,” you gasped out. 

David nodded, “We can take a break up there if you like. Not far and well be switchbacking up the side.” You agreed and made your way off the rocks to a small clearing with a moss-covered log. 

Stripping off your backpack you dropped own onto the rotting wood, taking a large swig from your water bottle. “Do you honestly think those kids could make it up here?”

He flopped down next to you. “You'd be surprised. I found Nikki and Space Kid near the peak. Don't ask me how they got there.”

You gazed into the trees, taking another drink. “How much farther?”

David took a deep breath and sighed, “A few hours? We can break for lunch when we reach the top.” His smile returned and you fought off a grimace. He hopped up and swung his backpack back into place, “We should get going.” 

He offered his hand again, but you ignored it. He slowly retracted his palm as you brushed past him. He may be okay now but as soon as you got back to camp, constantly smiley David would come right back. 

David once again took the lead and you did your best to keep up with those long legs of his. Walking in relative silence, you moved back and forth along the mountain, zig zagging your way up through the switch backs. 

As the sun rose high into the sky and tree cover lessened, you wondered when your backpack had become so heavy and when your brow had gotten so sweaty. Yet you continued on. Were it not for the free lodging you would have been long gone but even a month away from home was worth it. Even if it meant climbing to the top of every mountain in the state. 

As you took several more turns and you noticed that David had gotten strangely quiet. He had stopped pointing out anything semi important all together and seemed to be glancing around somewhat nervously. 

“Hey David? Are you okay?” you asked, leaning on a tree to you didn't slide back down the steep mountain. 

“Huh?” he glanced back at you, forcing a smile back onto his face. “Oh yes! I'm fine. Just trying to get my bearings is all.”

“Riiight,” you said, sarcasm so heavy in your voice that even David couldn't miss it. 

He looked about again. “I think I see a flat area up there, let's get up there and I'll check the map.” You squinted at him, suspicion rising, but followed. 

David had map that looked far too old to be up to date and compass in hand, avidly studying both. He slowly paced in a circle, checking the sun and his surroundings. 

“I thought you knew this mountain like the back of your own hand,” you tried to joke, but found yourself getting a little nervous as well. If David was lost then you might be in trouble. You could navigate a city no problem but you had little to no experience with the wilderness.  
He smiled a bit to far. You think he meant it to be reassuring but it just sort of unnerved you. “This way,” he announced pointing over his shoulder. 

Once again you set out, a frown set firmly in place. You didn't walk more than a hundred yards and he was already looking around again. “David. Are we lost?”

He smiled nervously, “I wouldn't say that. I just am not exactly sure where we're at right now.”

“Isn't that lost?” you asked dryly. 

“No. I know how to get back to camp. I just don't see the path I usually take,” he said defiantly. “It probably has just been overgrown from not being used often.” David started moving from the path to a growth of trees, pushing them out of the way. “It should be about here.” 

“Are you sure that's a good idea? We can just head back down. Maybe we took a wrong turn?” you suggested. 

From the trees his head popped out, confident grin restored and eyes shining, “Where's your sense of adventure? As my Camp Campbell co-counselor I'd expect you to have more courage!”

You groaned, somewhat impressed and annoyed at his use of alliteration, and pushed your way into the trees. You probably would have headed back down to camp if you didn't think you'd just get more lost on the way down. Lost with someone sounded better than that, even if that someone was David. The trees were kind of spaced apart like there could have been a path there but it was way overgrown if there had been. Yet David continued on. 

You mentally cursed him, but continued to navigate through the trees. “We should just go back!” you called after him. 

“Just a bit further okay?” 

You felt the thing in you tighten again as your nerves heightened, like a violin string pulled too tight. “We’re lost. We need to try and go back to camp.” You had lost sight of him in the trees. You muttered a tiny “Fuck,” and hurried after him shouting his name. 

Your body jumped into overdrive. Heart pounding, palms sweating, tears threatening to well up. You were alone. You fought through the trees, following what path you assumed he took, desperate for some kind of reply. “David if you don't fucking answer me I'm going to kill you when I find you!” 

From your right you could barely make out a tiny answer over the sound of blood rushing through your ears. “He...here. I'm over here.” 

Turning on a dime, you forced your way after the voice. With one final push, you exited to a rocky clearing that cut off sharply over the side of the mountain. David was standing on the edge, back to you, shoulders slumped forward and arms wrapped very tightly around himself. 

You gasped for air, chest heaving as you tried to catch your breath. “What the hell was that? I thought you knew these woods and you just take off like an idiot! Why would you do that, David?”

“I didn't mean to,” he muttered, his shoulder tensing up. 

“Huh?” 

“I didn't mean to get us lost. I just... I just...I'm sorry,” David's voice wavered. 

Still fuming, you snarled, “Well yeah! I would have been out there alone! And ... wait, what?”

“I said I'm sorry. I messed up,” slowly, he turned to face you. David's eyes were red and face streaked with tears. Was he crying? 

“David, don’t cry it's okay,” your demeanor changed from anger to concern in a heartbeat. You took a step closer, trying to get him away from the edge. You couldn't see down super well but it looked like it abruptly cut off and dropped who knew how far. 

He shook back and forth, taking a step back. “It's my fault! I was trying to show off. I just wanted to show you how great it was out here!”

David was getting dangerously close to the edge and you still had about five feet between you and him. “It's okay. But right now you need to calm down. What are you not supposed to do when you get lost?”

“Panic...” he choked out. 

“And what are you doing right now?” 

“Panicking,” he wiped his eyes on the back of his hand and made a valiant attempt to stop his tears. 

You weren't quite sure what happened next. All you knew was David was about to step away from the edge and then he was falling backwards. Maybe the ledge gave out, or he tripped, or there was a mini earthquake, but one moment he was moving forward and the next he was over the ledge. Lunging forward, you swiped him, trying to grab a limb, his shirt, anything, but only catching air. 

You landed on your hands and knees hard, gripping the ledge. Maybe thirty feet down you could see David sprawled this back, either passed out or dead you weren't sure. Leaping into action you spotted a slight slope to the right of the ledge. “David! If you can hear me, don't move! I'm gonna find a way down!” 

Half sliding and half controlled movement, you gripped your way down the slope, moving from tree to tree like they were monkey bars on the most dangerous playground. You could feel your heart leap into your throat as you rushed down to your co-counselor. You had seen him take quite a beating at the camp in your two weeks of working with him. He had walked away from getting hit with a bus multiple times, a fall like this should be no problem. Right? Right?!

Scrambling into the outcropping below, you rushed to him. David lay sprawled on a pile of dead pine needles. Quickly looking him over you spotted blood coming from his nose, forehead and a few more scrapes along his arms, but nothing serious as far as external bleeding goes. Probably safe enough to move him. It's not like you had cell phone signal here to call for help anyway. 

Pulling him all the way onto his back, you pressed your ear to his chest. Thu-thump th-thump. Okay not dead. Good. Giving him a little shake you tried to rouse him. “D-David. Hey wake up okay?” You shook him again. 

Pulling your water bottle, you glanced at the contents. About two thirds left. “Fuck it,” you thought and dumped some over his face. 

David's eyes shot open and he sat bolt upright, sputtering for air, “W-w-what happened w-where am I?” 

You could cry with relief, but instead pulled him into a hug. “Thank god you're alive!” 

He tried to hug you back, “Owie! Yep, s-still alive. Just in immense pain right now.” He winced as you pulled away from him. David tried to regain his upright sitting position but after a bit of struggling to do so, opted for leaning on you instead. “What happened?” 

“I don't know. One second you were standing there, the next you were falling. I think the ledge gave way or something...” you tried to explain. “I tried to get us to turn back.”

David's brows knitted together in a mournful expression, “I know.”

You stared at him for a moment, all traces of his happy-go-lucky self seemingly abandoned, only leaving the husk of what he normally was. Finally you asked, “Do you think you can stand?” 

He glanced from you to his legs, wiggling his left, then his right. He grimaced. “Let's try it.” Using you for support, David got his legs under him and pushed up, “Ahhh! Ow!” he forced all of his weight onto his left, tears pricking the corners if his eyes. 

As gently as you could, you lowered him back into the ground. “Well fuck.”

“My leg... it's either broken or-or sprained... I don't think I can walk,” he sadly chucked. “Best hiking day ever, eh, co-counselor?” 

You wanted to scream. You wanted to yell at the top of your lungs that he was an idiot and should have listened to you, that it was his fault that you were in this mess. But you didn't. Instead you wrapped an arm around his shoulders and just held on.


	2. I do NOT have a crush

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand here is the fluff

David had you use two sticks to make a makeshift splint for right leg. He had sliced up his vest with a pocketknife. He seemed a bit upset, but thought tearing that up was better than other clothes or his emergency sleeping bag that he had brought along. 

Of course he brought an emergency sleeping bag. 

With his arm over your shoulders, leg now secure, and more than a few ibuprofen, David was once again looking on the bright side of things. Or at least trying to. 

The place he had fallen was considerably flatter than the area above and made hobbling around with your co-counselor across your shoulders considerably easier. With you acting as movement and David as navigator, the two of you set off down the mountain. 

“I sure am lucky you were here,” David said, smile having returned. “If I had been by myself, who knows when they would have found me.” 

You stifled a laugh, “Probably would have taken a while. But you'd have found your way back. I'm sure.” 

The pair of you slowly started making your way north. It had taken you about half a day to get up to where you were moving at a pretty brisk pace, so if you could just find the trail again maybe you could make it back to camp late tonight. 

You readjusted your grip on David's waist, and you felt him inhale sharply against you. “Oh shit, did I hurt you?” 

“No! Of course not. I just hurt everywhere right now.”

“Well that's what happens you back off a cliff,” you smirked gazing up at him. 

David gripped your shoulder tighter. “Well, I will not do that anymore!” 

Even moving as fast as you could, night was still inevitable. And you still hadn't found the trail. David assured you that you were at least heading in the direction of Camp Campbell and managed to convince you that trying again tomorrow would be a better option. 

After finding a small clearing under some spruce trees, you gathered some wood for a fire, leaving David to sort through the supplies. 

“So, if we’re careful, we have enough food to make it through tomorrow and maybe the next day. But we should look for some fresh water because we only have half a bottle left,” he informed you from the stump you had left him on. 

You struck a match, igniting the dry kindling as David instructed. “Sorry I dumped like half out on your face.” 

“Aw that's alright,” he said, “I'm just glad to be awake, otherwise you'd have to carry me back.”

You joined him on the stump, “That's because you assume that I would carry you. I could just leave you, you gimp,” you said with a smirk. 

His mouth fell open and a look of genuine hurt crossed his face, “You would've done that?”

You nodded as sincerely as possible before a grin touched your lips, “Naw, I wouldn't leave my co-counselor behind.” David looked puzzled for a moment before returning your smile. 

He held up a sandwich that you had packed for the hike today. “Wanna share?” you stomach rumbled at the thought of food. 

Passing the sandwich back and forth, you did your best to not eat more than your share, but you don't think a turkey sandwich had ever tasted so good other than this moment. David seemed to think so too, “You made this? This is amazing!”

“It's just a sandwich?”

“Will you make me another when we get back to camp?” he asked, eyes shining in the campfire light. 

You giggled, “Really? I mean if you want me to...” you weren't sure why but you could feel your heart jump a bit at his question. 

“I do!” he insisted, nodding his head vigorously. 

“Alright then I will!” 

You don't know how long to two of you sat there watching the sunset, passing that sandwich back and forth, both refusing to take the last bite, but before long, the moon had risen and David was rubbing his aching muscles. 

“... Do... Do you want me to do that for you?” you asked barely above a whisper. 

“Hm?”

“I can help you with that, if you want that is, like not in a weird way, just, you’re hurt and I could help,” you blurted out. 

“Oh, um yeah! That'd be great,” he said with a slight tilt of his head. 

You took your place behind him, hands resting tentatively on his shoulders. This is what coworkers do right? This is okay. David is hurt, this will help him feel better. You grit your teeth and dug your thumbs into the muscle above his shoulder blades. “Tell me if I'm hurting you okay?”

“Allllright!” you could hear the smile in his voice.

And you started, massaging to the best of your amature ability. You kneaded along his shoulders and neck feeling tight knots along the way. When was the last time he’d had a massage? Based on all of the tightened bunches of muscle you guessed never. “You carry a lot of tension in your back, are you sure I'm not hurting you?” 

David had let his chin drop to his chest, but he shook his head, “I'm okay.” 

“If you say so,” you pressed into where you thought the trapezius was. Moving to his middle back, you felt him take in a sharp breath. 

And he moaned. 

Your heart stopped. David's hand shot up, clasping over his mouth. He jerked away, jumping up on his good leg. “I-I’m so sorry, I-I-I don't what that was.” His face was beet red, arms stick straight at his sides. He tried to take a step, forgetting all about his injured leg and you rushed forward, catching him by the shoulders. 

“Well, don’t hurt yourself more,” you found your face burning just as much as his, and right now they were closer than you anticipated. Both of you stared in opposite directions into the night, anywhere but at each other. You helped him back down and busied yourself with the fire. “You should probably get some rest.” 

David had pulled his good leg to his chest, “You should get some rest too,” he countered. “We won’t be going anywhere if both of us don't get some sleep.” 

You retrieved the pine green sleeping bag from his pack. “We only have one. You're injured, you need your rest more than I do.” 

The blush that had only started to fade began to return to his cheeks, “Okay, now hear me out. I'm not saying this because I'm trying to…. do anything, campers honor,” he flashed the Camp Campbell salute, “But it's... a pretty big sleeping bag! I mean. We could share and-and it gets pretty cool at night. It just seems like a better option than one of us sleeping outside.” 

You bit your lip, trying to put that noise he made not four minutes ago out of your head. He wasn't wrong, the sleeping bag was bigger than normal and it's it's not like you weren't exhausted. And this was David, you're pretty sure you've never met someone this well-intended in your life. Besides, if he did try anything, you could just leave him out here... “What the hell, it's better than the dirt.” you shrugged, trying to maintain some of your cool. 

You rolled the bag out onto a patch of semi soft grass near the fire and helped David over to it. You restocked the flames one last time and scooted in next to David and zipped up the bag. 

With your back pressed to his, the bag seemed to have enough room to lay at least semi-comfortably without any issues. It was tight, but it was warmer than the ground. “Good night David.”

He stiffened a moment before saying, “And sleep tight!”

\---

The next morning, you awoke to a murmuring voice listing off the species of trees with each breath. Right into your ear. All of yesterday came flooding back, the hike, the fall and all that jazz. At least you were warm. You felt yourself start to drift back towards sleep when you asked yourself, why were you so cozy? You ran a hand down your middle and found and arm wrapped securely around your waist. 

David had curled himself around you, his chest pressed into your back, face pressed into your neck. If you were warm before, you were going to die of heat stroke now. “David?” you ran a hand along his arm. “We gotta get going.” 

He pulled you closer and yawned, nuzzling your hair. “Good morning Campbell...campers...” he muttered before returning to listing off tree types. 

Okay, if you didn't get away from him, you were pretty sure your heart was going to beat out of your chest, “Hey, it's time to go. We've gotta get up!” you peeled his arm away from your waist. 

He jerked behind you, finally waking up. You felt him jump back to the other side of the sleeping bag and successfully scoot it back three inches along the ground. You quickly unzipped the bag and freed yourself from the cocoon. 

David was sitting up, staring wide eyed at you. “I... I...”

“Don’t say you're sorry again,” you cut him off. “That was yesterday, we are not doing that again today. I'm not mad.” 

His mouth hung open a moment longer before snapping shut. He nodded. You dug through his backpack, finding one of the energy bars he had given you yesterday. “Wanna share?”

Not bothering with an answer, you snapped it in half and handed it to him. “Thank you.” 

“We're just lucky that you actually prepare for hikes,” you finished the flavorless bar off in two bites, “How do you feel today?”

Through a mouthful of bar, David said, “Sore. But better than yesterday. And we’re closer to camp!” 

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” you scolded, “Is your leg any better?” he shrugged and began undoing the splint. From his lower shin to his ankle was swollen and turning a bit purple in places. 

Ever so gently, you pressed two fingers against the flesh. He jumped at your touch, giving you a pained expression. “Well doc? Will I ever walk again?”

You frowned, “I think it's broken. I doubt a sprain would be this far up your leg. We should get moving.” You packed everything back up, fitting it all into David's backpack and abandoning your own. 

“We shouldn't litter, if we want the forest to be here for generations to come-" he started but you cut him off with a glare. “But I'm this case I'm sure mother nature won’t mind!” 

And with that, you handed David some more pain killer from his pack, which he opted to dry swallow in an effort to conserve water and boosted him up into your now primary walking position. 

In his free hand, Davis held the old map and compass. “I think that if we continue north west we should find a river. It's a bit out of our way but we should refill the water bottles.” 

You agreed, “Besides with all this outside-ness we're starting to stink.” You took a comical whiff and coughed. 

“Hey, I don't stink! I am very careful to make sure I don't, ” he wined. 

“You're not the one with an armpit in your face,” you retorted, pressing your face against his chest and taking another deep breath and staring up at him. You hated that in all reality, he didn't stink. Not really. He just smelled like David. But you coughed again, chuckling. “Smells like b.o. to me.”

“You are so mean, you know that?” he pouted, but you spied a slight flush rushing up to his ears. 

Taking another step, you moved your grip to his waist, looped your finger through his belt loop and pulled him a bit closer. “I am the meanest. Besides I thought you only ever see the good in people?” 

“I only see good in people who don’t say I stink,” he teased back. 

Your jaw dropped, “Was that sarcasm? Did the golden boy of Camp Campbell just use sarcasm? Oh my stars, I may need to sit down.”

He chuckled. “I'm not the golden boy.”

“You don’t curse, you always follow the rules, and this is the first time you've ever used sarcasm around me in two weeks,” you said flatly. 

David's mouth hung as he thought about some way to retort, a smile tugging at the corners. “I may do some of those things, but I do swear!”

“Oh yeah? Say ‘fuck’ for me right now,” you challenged. 

He laughed, “No, I'm not going to do that! I can't! ” 

You resisted to urge to elbow him in the side. “Who the hell is gonna hear it way the fuck out here?” you said, intentionally lacing your words with swears. You could tell he was biting back the urge to call out your language by the screwed up expression he had. “Okay, okay, if you won't say that, say... ‘oh my god.’

“What?” 

“Say ‘oh my god’ you never say that. It's always some lame play on it,” you explained, “Like ‘oh my goodness’ or ‘oh golly jeeze.’ Say it.”

David smirked. Like full on smirked. Like he was somewhat mischievous and not some goody two shoes. “Alright. Oh my god.” 

“Oh my god!” you yelled into the trees. 

He put his hand to his mouth and did same. A flock of birds from a nearby tree took off at the sound. “Son of a! B...birch.” 

Grinning, you said, “You'll get there. How much farther to the river?” 

David tilted his head, listening for something. “That way.” Letting him take the lead, to the best of his current ability, you made your way towards the sound of rushing water. The river was large. Like wider than you thought would have been possible in this part of the state. Water thrashed over sharp rocks, white sprays bouncing off the surface. 

Before he could stop you, you began pulling David towards the water. Just for a moment, just to get your feet wet. Right before you stepped in, David pulled back, halting you. “I get you want to touch the water but let's not get swept away by rapids,” he said with a smile and gestured down stream where the water looked a bit calmer. 

You nodded. “Right.”

“I think we've had more than enough life threatening mistakes for one outing.” 

You left David on the shore along with the supplies and your shoes, and rushed into the river. The water was a welcoming cool in the now sweltering heat of the high sun, lapping at your mid calf. “This feels amazing!” 

You ran back out of the river and dropped down next to David, working his boots off and untying his destroyed vest.“Come on! The cold might help with the swelling.” 

Gripping your hands for balance, he lowered his injured leg into the water. He gasped at the cool water, but submerged it. “Feels good,” he answered before you could ask. 

You stood there for a good five minutes, just letting the water rush around you. It was strange. Less than forty eight hours ago, David was someone you normally chose to avoid but now? Standing here with him, you don't know how you could go back to the camp without him. 

He met your gaze. Shit were you staring? But he smiled. That's good right? Hell, you had even been annoyed that smile. How had you done that when all you wanted right now was to keep that smile on his face? You felt your chest tighten and face grow hot. 

Eventually, you got out and started a small fire to boil some water from the river. David of course had packed a pot just in case. Is there anything that he didn't think of? Well other than that paths may have changed in the past few years.

Sitting next to him on the bank, you resisted the urge to put your hand over his, and instead just kept glancing at him out of the corner of your eye. Even with everything that had gone wrong, you could tell David was still in his element. He looked relaxed and even to be enjoying himself more than a little bit. Just being outdoors seemed to invigorate him, especially when he was able to calm down and think properly. Right now, he just looked happy, with a bit of wind ruffling his auburn hair, busying himself with the map and compass. You never see him like this back at the camp. He was always too busy chasing after the kids or cleaning up after Cameron Campbells messes to focus on what he needed. 

“If we follow the river back, we should be able to make it to the Lake Lilac,” he said, breaking the silence. “We’ll be back by tomorrow!”

Your stomach flip flopped. Yeah you'd be back to safety, some manner of civilization and David could go get his leg fixed, but would that mean that everything would go back to how it was before? Would you go back to not being able to stand him because he was to focused on his job? But you smiled, “That's great!”

“I know! Gwen and the campers must be so worried!” he smiled. “What a relief it'll be when we show us in one piece. Well mostly.” he gestured to his leg. “We’ll have to tell them the tale of how we got out of danger together.”

“And how I almost got you to swear?” 

He flushed, “N-no. It would probably be best if we left that bit out.”

“Haha, are you sure? I'm sure Max might get a kick out of it,” you said, brushing yourself off and getting to your feet, “We still have a bit of daylight left. Want to head towards camp?” 

To your surprise, David flopped into his back, resting his head in his hands. “We can just make an early start tomorrow. I'm sure Gwen can handle things until then.” 

“Okay, who are you and what have you done with David?” you smiled and joined him. 

He sighed. “I'm always forced to take a day off and when I do, I go camping. And it's great! I love it. But it's it's just nice to have share it with someone who likes yo- who likes the outdoors. It makes a difference I guess. To bad it took breaking my leg to make me slow down.” 

You sat up on your elbows and bit your lip. “I don’t really like the outdoors...” you muttered, heart threatening to jump into your throat. 

David's green eyes darted to you, “Oh.” He laced his hands together on his chest. 

“Doesn't mean we can be friends,” you nudged him in the side, your breathing returning to normal. 

His face went red, “F-friends! Of course, you are I are the best of friends.” David sat up, running a hand along the back if his neck, like some kind of nervous tick. 

Running your nails along his back, you moved closer. You had half expected him to jump away at your touch, instead he tensed up but stayed put. “Is this okay?” He didn't answer, but leaned into your hand. 

Slowly, you got to your knees and wrapped your arms around his neck. “I'm sorry you got hurt...” 

“Oh that's alright, I get hurt all the time I'm used to-"

“I mean it. I'm sorry,” you buried your face between his neck and shoulder. David froze under your grip, then you felt a warm hand on your arm. 

“Thank you,” David’s voice cracked and you felt something wet drip onto you.

You looped around and crouched in front of him. “Aw, don't cry. I thought we done with the water works,” you forced a smile, and held his face in your hands. 

“W-w-why are you so nice to me?” he sobbed. Most people were so ugly when they cried, but not David. With his face flushed and eyes bubbling over with tears, he looked so bare, so utterly human.

You wiped his tears away with your thumbs, “I said we were friends right? I'm not going to try and hurt my friend.” Every time you said that word, ‘friend’ you felt your stomach drop just a little. You internally frowned in confusion. 

He sniffled, “Really?”

Running a hand through his hair, you repeated him, “Really.” 

David dried his face on the back of his hand and smiled up at you. Before you knew what was happening, he had dragged you into a hug, pulling back until he was on his back again and you pressed against his chest. You felt your heart slam against your ribs like it was going to punch a hole through them. You pressed you nose to him and inhaled, still wishing that he didn't smell so good. “But seriously, you could use a bath,” you mocked. David let out a sigh and pushed you off of him, chuckling.After a dinner of trail mix, you and David decided that was easier for you to sleep with the two of you pressed together. It kept you both warmer and avoided the awkward connotations the following morning. 

At least that what it was supposed to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thx for the feedback! really its what keeps me posting this mess. My tumblr. is iimaddhatzz if anyone wants to chat about things BTW! Love you all !


	3. Lightning Storm

You had somehow ended up with your face pressed to his chest and leg slung over his hips. David had wrapped his arms around you and rolled onto his back. You had just barely woken up as the sun was rising. Glancing around the cool morning, you decided it was too early to get up and slumped back into David's chest. 

Re-adjusting your hips, you pressed against him, trying to share his body heat. And you snapped awake. Against your inner thigh you felt what was unmistakably an erection. You nearly leapt out of your skin only stopping because you knew that if you woke David up, the whole situation would escalate beyond awkward and jump straight into embarrassment. 

As subtly as you could, you moved your leg to the side, telling yourself that this was only a normal reaction, any guy would be the same way, and not to think into it. It didn't help that David moaned a bit when your leg was removed, the sound sending a little shock down your spine. Unzipping the sleeping bag, you rolled out, breathing hard. You gripped your chest, staring up at the still purple and black sky. 

“Fuck,” you muttered. You could feel heat pooling in your abdomen, pushing you to slip back into the sleeping bag with him. Fighting off the urge, you stood up, the morning air shaking you from your arousal. 

Alright that's it. This crush that has been developing over the past few days had to stop. He was your coworker. Your boss. It didn't matter if you felt like this. You needed this job right now, not a boyfriend. No matter how good getting back in with him and slipping your hand below his- Gah! No! 

Biting your lip, you dug through the backpack, finding what was left of the trail mix. Besides, you'd be back to camp today. Everything would go back to normal. You gave David another few minutes of rest, eating your half of the trail mix. 

With a swig of your water that tasted like river, you knelt by David. Putting on your biggest smile you shook him, “Goooood morning!” 

He shot up, sitting at attention, the Camp Campbell salute firmly in place, “And a good morning to you too!” he grinned up at you. You dropped the trail mix into his lap and he jumped a bit, eyes going a bit wide like he had just noticed something. 

You smirked, “You should eat something.” He snatched up the bag, head bobbing in little nods as he scarfed down the rest of the trail mix. “We’ve got a long days walk I figured that the earlier we get up the better.” 

“Yeah! Um...” his eyes darted around for a moment. “Can I have the water bottle?” you handed it to him, only to have the water bottle drained in two seconds flat. 

“We should fill that up. Huh?” you snatched it back from him as he looked up at you sheepishly. “Wanna come with?” you asked with slight smirk. 

David jumped, eyes darting from you and back down, “I think I'll stay here...” You rolled your eyes and left him behind. 

You headed back to the river and the makeshift mini fire pit from the evening before. Restarting it with a match, you proceed to boil enough water to refill the water bottle and dunked it into the river to cool if off a bit faster. 

You found David sitting up on a rock, with his face a bit flushed, and a blissed expression over his features. As soon as he saw you he redded deeper, “Ready to go?” 

You almost blushed in return. “Yep! Absolutely!” As quickly as you could, you repacked everything, mentally chanting to yourself to not think about what David had been doing moments before and to not think about how good he would have looked with- Shit! Stop thinking about that! 

You helped him to his feet, keeping a few inches between you and him. Thankfully, David didn't seem go mind the bit of distance. Unlike the previous day, you found a strange, awkward silence had taken the place of your previous banter. 

You even avoided looking at each other, instead opting to either stare straight ahead or to fascinated yourselves with the nature around you. Eventually you coughed in an attempt to relieve the tension. 

“How far to Lake Lilac?” you asked.

“Huh?” David looked you right in the eye, rose color instantly returning to his cheeks. You repeated the question. “I think a few miles. We ended up pretty far down the river.”

You nodded before blurting out, “Are you okay?” 

David froze for a moment before taking another step, “I'm fine! Fine and dandy! Why wouldn't I be?”

“Your just weirdly quiet this morning,” you pointed out, trying to end this awkwardness. “Is something bothering you?” 

He shook his head, “Nope! You ol’ friend David is doing just fine!” he strained the word ‘friend,’ like it was hard to get out of his mouth. 

You almost pushed it. Almost asked if he was seeing someone, if there was a rule against dating coworkers, if a friend was all he thought of you as. But the questions all died in your throat and you marched on. You wish that you could just get back to camp already so David could go back to being overly happy and stop blushing every time he looked at you. Everything would be so much simpler. 

At least that's what you told yourself. 

Around ten you finally reached the lake. You don't think you'd ever been so happy to see a body of water. “Almost there... we should take a break. How's your leg?” The two of you flopped down under a pine tree. 

“Hanging in there,” he smiled. 

Your stomach grumbled, “God, I hope Gwen didn't eat all the frozen pizza while we were gone.” You pulled the last bar out of the bag and took a bite before handing it to David. He took a bite and offered it back, but you pushed it back into his hand. “I’ve got two gentlemen waiting for me back at camp.”

David raised an eyebrow before picking up on your meaning, “Ben and Jerry?”

“Ben and Jerry,” you repeated, glancing up at the sky. From between the branches, you could see dark clouds packing in and, unlike the previous days, it looked like it might rain. It didn't help that camp was positioned in a valley that just loved to have all the heavy weather hit it, before rolling off as a light drizzle to the town below. You mentioned it to David who seemed a bit concerned. 

Any other day he might have just braved the rain and walked back to camp. But with his leg busted and the risk of slipping being higher because of it, he suggested heading near a cave he knew just in case. “Were only hour away from camp, maybe, but let's not get caught in the rain.”

Reluctantly, you agreed, not wanting to see him hurt again. The cave was just a little out of your way, but still on the way to the camp. As you got closer, you were glad that David had suggested going there. 

The lighting had come first, cracking violently across the sky, followed by vicious claps of thunder. Within a few moments, thick sheets of rain began pouring down, slicking the ground and soaking your clothes. 

You pace slowed down as you did your best to keep David upright and not sliding on the forest floor. Before you were practically dragging him with you, you stopped and shoved the backpack over his shoulders. 

“What are you...?”

Before he could say anything more, you pulled his arms around your neck and boosted him onto your back. “Tell me where I'm going!” you yelled over the rain. 

Pointing over your shoulder and shouting in your ear, David guided you to a small cave hollowed into the surrounding mountain. You nearly dropped David onto the floor, gasping for breath and shaking the water from your body like a wet dog. 

“God you're heavy,” you groaned, resting your hands on you knees. 

David didn't say anything, just stared up at you with eyes wide. Looking down you realized that the rain had completely soaked your clothes, successful sticking them to every curve of your body. 

“Damn it,” you cursed, trying to ring the hem of your shirt out. 

David cleared his throat before placing the backpack on the floor next to him. He muttered something under his breath, rummaging for something, before literally saying. “Ah-hah!” and flicking on a flashlight. He gripped that in his mouth and pulled out the rest of the supplies from the soaked bag and laid them out side by side trying to dry them out. 

With puddle starting to pool around your ankles, you slid down the rock wall next to David. You pulled your arms around yourself and huddled closer to him. “Is it not freezing in here, are you not freezing?” 

“Yeah,” he replied and untied his leg. He removed his bandana, leaving it out with the rest of the supplies and pulled at the neck of his shirt. At closer examination you realized it was an old Camp Campbell shirt that he had folded into a triangle. 

“Too bad we can't start a fire,” you whined, looking through the wet supplies and studying the sleeping bag, debating whether you should use it as a blanket. “It's probably not a good idea for you to be so cold. Want to get under this? It's not much but it's drier than we are.”

“I'd rather not ruin my sleeping bag,” he shook his head. “I doubt the rain will last long.” As if on cue, a clap of thunder sounded above, “At least I hope it won't last long. ”

You scooted closer to him and leaned up against the cave wall. “I hope so.” Almost as if it was a reflex now, David put his arm around your shoulders, pulling you in closer. 

Even with the wet clothes you could feel warmth radiating from him. “Do you usually run this warm?” You pressed a hand to his chest and, not even thinking about what you were doing, slid it up to his neck. Before, you had never seen him without his bandana tied around neck. He even slept with it on. Without it, he looked so vulnerable. God, he was close. His Adam's apple bobbed under your thumb, ripping you back to the reality of what you were doing. 

You snapped your hand down, quickly backing away from him. You muttered out an apology before pulling you knees to your chest. The rain continued to pour down and your stomach rumbled. You wished that there was anything to do in this cave, anything to help take your mind off your boss. The cave only went about ten feet back into the mountain and was narrow enough for David to touch the other side with his legs straight out. You wouldn't even so much call it a cave more like a crevice. But hey, at least it was dry. 

Finding a twig that had been blown or left in here, you busied yourself by drawing in the dirt. You wanted to ask if there was a rule about dating your coworkers here, but it's not like you could exactly ask David without turning into a blushing mess. Why couldn't you have gotten stranded in the forest with Gwen? At least you could actually talk to her. 

Instead, you very nearly had to sit on your hands to stop yourself from doing anything that might get you fired. Right now you just wanted this rain to stop so you could get back to camp. 

“So... uh, when we get back, do you want to watch a movie or something?” David asked. 

You felt your face grow hot. Calm down. That wasn't asking you on a date. That was something friends did. You and Gwen did it all the time. “I think we should get your leg looked at first,” you said, trying to avoid the question. 

He chuckled, this morning's awkwardness seeming to have faded, “Well yeah, but after that.”

Wringing your hands, you nodded. “Yeah. I'd like that.” 

\---

Before long, the rain slowed and the booming thunder all but stopped. Repacking your bag of semi-soggy supplies, you helped David up. 

A drizzle and the pleasant smell of petrichor was all that was left behind from the thunderstorm. Everything was rinsed clean from the rain, leaving the whole forest feeling fresh. A light grey cloud hung low overhead, giving the whole area with a misty feel. 

“I've never seen the forest after a thunderstorm,” you muttered, a smile small smile pulling at your lips. You felt David turn to look at you, but didn't say anything. 

Near the coast, a large pine tree had large, smoking gashes along it's trunk. The smell of ozone and ash permeated the area around it. “Did... did lightning hit this one?” you asked, examining the cuts along the tree. 

David nodded, “And that's why you don't stand under a tree in a thunderstorm.” 

The way the gashes wound along the tree mesmerized you. How could something so destructive could leave behind something so beautiful? This tree had been struck by one of the most powerful forces of nature and it still stood. You reached forward to run your hands along the bark when David's hand grabbed your wrist.

“I wouldn't do that. Might still be... zappy,” he wiggled his fingers at you. 

“Right.” 

Tearing your eyes away from the tree, you continued towards Camp Campbell. Around you, you started to recognizing some of the area around close to camp. All around the trees became less dense and even the activity field could be seen if you squinted. 

A bed. A real bed not some bag on the ground. It was so close. By the way David was moving, you could tell he was excited too. “What's the first thing your going to do when you get back? Ohhh I just can't wait to get started on activities again.” If he could skip, you were sure he would be right now. 

“First things first, I'm getting you to a hospital,” you pointed out. 

He shrugged, “Well, yeah. That first. But after that?”

You thought a moment, sticking out your bottom lip. “Take a nap.” You looked up at him. How happy could one person get about a damned summer camp? With that stupid grin plastered over his face and eyes shining, David looked to excited for words. 

From off in the distance, you heard a child voice. “That must be one of the campers!” he exclaimed, hoping on his good leg, “They are way too far away from camp.”

Not even bothering to protest, you turned towards the voice. As you drew closer to the voice, you could hear a slight lisp in the voice.  
“I cast banishment!” Nerris threw a handful of dice on the ground. She darted over to check the numbers. “And the displacer beast is entrapped in the pocket dimension!” 

“Nerris! What are you doing out here?” David scolded. 

Nerris’s head shot up, her mouth hanging open when she saw you and David. “You're alive!”

“Of course we're alive,” David brushed off nonchalantly, “But what are you doing so far away from camp?” 

“Max said you were eaten by a mountain lion,” she said, still focused on the face that two of her missing counselors had just popped up. 

“Well clearly we weren't, but now you need to get back to camp! It's not safe out here alone. You could get lost,” David scolded. 

You spoke up, “Nerris? Let's go together,okay? We need to get David to a hospital.”

She leaned over, examining David's broken leg. “I can cast healing word. I've recently started dual classing as a cleric and this would be a great time to try out some healing spells.”

“Mmmmmmm,” you forced a smile, “Maybe when you've had some practice.” You felt bad about not letting her do her magic thing, but you really didn't want to break David. More. 

“So what happened to you guys?” Nerris asked as you headed back to camp. 

David piped up, “Well you see, I got a little-”

“I got lost,” you interrupted. “I got separated from David and panicked. While trying to find me, he lost his footing and hurt his leg. It was my fault.” David stared at you with a look of confusion. You gave him a small smile, trying to reassure him. 

Nerris seemed uninterested in what you said. She was probably hoping it was something more like you ran into a dragon and had only escaped by the skin of your teeth. “At least you made it back from your quest, even if it was a failure,” she lisped. “Make sure to take a long rest before heading back out.”

“Believe me, once we’re back to camp, you won't be able to wake me up for twelve hours,” you yawned. “At least.”

It would have been a peaceful walk with the Nerris, but of course she wasn’t the only camper out after the storm. As you passed by the docks, Nerris chatting away about LARPing, you spotted Max sitting on beach. When he saw you and David he almost looked surprised for half a second before returning his face to his normal, uninterested state. 

Getting to his feet, he shoved his hands into his pocket and walked over to your little party. “So you didn't die. Woo-hoo.” He looked both of you up and down, “I see you took my advice about pushing David over a cliff to heart.” 

“I didn't push him-”

“That's right, I fell off a cliff all on my own,” David said. 

Max let out a laugh, “You fell on your own? Are you fucking kidding me?” 

“He only hurt himself because I got lost Max,” you defended. Max squinted up at you, probably suspicious about your attitude change toward your co-counselor. 

“Whatever,” he shrugged and sauntered out in front of the group. 

Nerris then asked, “When do you think your party will be venturing back on your quest? I would like to join your party. I think that you could benefit from a mage as a companion.” 

“That sounds like a wonderful idea Nerris,” David piped up. “But it'll probably be a while before we go... questing.”

“How has Gwen been doing with all the...” you spun you hand in the airc searching for the right word, “Camp related activities.”

“Well, most of the activities have been canceled because you and David were supposed to run them,” she pipped. 

You gritted your teeth, “Right...” 

“Believe me, it has been the best two and a half days of camp,” Max added. 

“Oh! I forgot to ask, are you over encumbered? I'm sure carrying both David and your supplies must be heavy,” Nerris suggested. 

You shifted the bag on your shoulders. The thing had been cutting into you for the past few days. It probably weighed so much due to David's way over packing but without it, you guys would have been in real trouble. “I think it might be bigger than you are.” 

She shrugged, “I have an amulet of umbra that give me plus three strength. I think I can handle it.” She held out a pine cone tied on some fishing line. 

“If you're sure...” you slipped the backpack off your shoulders and handed it to her. Nerris wobbled for a moment when she slung the bag on. David put a hand out to help steady her and she was marching off ahead of you. You heard Max let out a huff. 

You had never been so excited to see the mess hall. The unkempt cabin that had had more than a few fires in it's day, drew ever closer. Closer to the center of camp, more of the campers were busying themselves with whatever task they had signed up for: Preston had roped Nerf and Dolph into helping with his most recent play, Neil was busying himself at the outdated science station and Harrison was trying to saw Nikki in half. 

You had half expected for the kids to all be shocked when you and David walked into the camp, but most of them hardly spared you a glance. Nikki was the only one that seemed to actually care. She nearly knocked Harrison to the ground to rush up to you. 

“You’re aliiiiveee!” she threw her arms into the air and screamed to the sky reminiscent of Victor Frankenstein. 

David pinched the bridge of his nose, but smiled, “Why does everyone assume we died?”

“I don’t know, maybe because you’re an incompetent camp counselor?” Max crossed his arms. Due to Nikki’s scream, the other kids actually took notice. Reassuring each kid that you and David were in fact alive, you made your way to the counselors cabin’ Nerris trailing after you with the backpack. Somewhere in the crowd of kids, Max had split off to join Nikki and Neil. 

David rapped on the cabin door. No response. He knocked again. “Gweeennnn! We're baaaack!” 

The door swung open so fast that you had to jump back. Gwen stood there with phone in hand, mouth agape. Who ever was on the phone could be heard shouting ‘Hello?’  
She pressed end on the screen without taking her eyes off of you and David. 

Her hands shot up and gripped David by the shoulders. At first you thought she might hug him, but she instead began violently shake him back and forth. You were grateful that he had let go of your shoulders because you were pretty sure you would have fallen over. 

“Do you have any idea how worried I was!” Gwen shouted, shaking him back and forth so hard that his neck snapped forward and back. Thank god that David actually had good balance, even on one leg. You were about to step in when she pulled him into a hug. “I hate you.” 

He returned the gesture, patting her back, “I missed you too, Gwen.”

Over a meal of frozen pizza and too much ice cream, you and David told Gwen what had happened over the past few days. Once again, you took the blame of getting lost, and David gave you another weird look but didn't deny it. David, who had been icing and elevating his leg, then turned the topic towards the camp. 

“Is that really what you should be focusing in thought now?” Gwen snapped as she snatched up the keys to the camp mobile. “You need a hospital. We’re leaving Quartermaster in charge.”

“I'm not hurt, I can stay-" you started to say. 

“You've in the woods for the past few days. At least make an appointment,” Gwen insisted. 

And with that, the three of you loaded into the car. The drive to the hospital was a long one and you were thankful that Gwen was the one driving. At least she had decent taste in music and didn't listen to the farmers almanac for entertainment. Within a few minutes, you could hear the mutterings of tree species from the back seat. 

“He must be exhausted,” Gwen said. “I don't think I've ever seen him take a nap, let alone fall asleep in a car.” 

You frowned and busied yourself by looking out the window. “Yeah, we've pretty much been going non-stop.” 

“Are you doing okay?” she asked as the car rounded a corner. 

You glanced to her then to the window again. “As okay as I can be,” you said with a little laugh. “Mostly tired I think.” 

“You can try and take a nap if you want. It's about a two hour drive,” Gwen suggested. 

With a shrug, you leaned back in your seat. The camp mobile was old, and the seats sagged badly, offering little support. You honestly wondered if the forest ground was more comfortable. Yet, with the air conditioning and the lull of Gwen's music, you managed to drift off.


	4. Cuddle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay some quick things, I know the hospital stuff is inaccurate, I don't care. I just want to get through this stuff haha. I also have been fiddling with this chapter to the point that now I don't like it. But thank you for all the support this is getting! Love you all so much!

To your surprise, you actually slept through car ride, only waking up when Gwen pulled into the parking lot of the emergency room attached to the small hospital. Jerking to life, you stretched, and realise just how sore you were. “God... I do not recommend sleeping in these chairs.” Your back cracked. 

“Everything this camp owns is shit,” Gwen grumbled. She reached back and nudged David's leg. He mumbled something inaudible and she nudged him again. “David. Lets go.”

His eyes fluttered for a moment before he sat up. You helped him from the car while Gwen grabbed a wheelchair from the entrance. David nearly collapsed into it, still shaking the sleep from his body. 

“Jeeze! Do you want to hurt yourself more?” Gwen snapped. The waiting room was mostly abandoned, save a secretary and a security guard. 

After a quick check in with the bubblegum chewing secretary, David was escorted to the back, with you and Gwen following closely. The room was small. A narrow bed sat in the center with medical equipment that you only knew some of the names for behind it. Two plastic chairs rested against one of the walls. 

The escort retrieved a pale blue hospital gown from a cabinet and politely asked you and Gwen to leave the room. After a moment, they let you back in. David had been redressed in the gown and was now sitting up in the bed with a pillow under his leg. The emergency room tech promised that the doctor would be in shortly and closed the door behind them. 

“He cut up my shorts,” David said with a pout.  
You smiled a little, “I'm sorry.” You and Gwen grabbed the chairs and scooted them to the side of the bed. The pile of his belongings sat on the counter behind you. Picking up what was left of the shorts you said, “I think it's just ‘cut up David's clothes’ week.”

And with that, you tossed the shorts through the air, making a successful basketball shot into the garbage can across the little room. “Three points!” Gwen quietly cheered. 

You sat down in the chair, looking David over. It was weird seeing him in anything other than his Camp Campbell clothes, but what caught your attention was how the collar was about two inches lower. Just barely visible was a dark bruise blooming on his skin. “Is that from the fall?” 

“Hm? This?” David pulled the collar down another inch, showing off more purpled skin, “No, no. This is from when I got hit by the bus last week.” 

“Jesus christ,” Gwen muttered, “Doesn't that hurt?” 

David opened his mouth to reply, when to door slid back open. Of course it wasn't a doctor. A nurse introduce herself and began prepping to start an IV. Suddenly, all sleep that seemed to be setting in abandoned David when he saw the needle. 

“D-do I need an IV, ma'am? I'm here for my leg is all,” he stuttered, suddenly pulling his arm away from her. 

“This is standard procedure. We can't proceed with anything until you have this,” she explained, smiling gently. 

“David, just let her do her job,” Gwen snapped. 

He bit his lip but extended his arm to her. Reaching over his waist, you rested your fingers on his wrist. You didn't think about what you were doing until you felt a pair of purple eyes on you. Glancing up, you met Gwen's gaze and moved to pull your arm back. Before you could, David interlocked his hand with yours right as the nurse stuck him. 

David jumped at the poke, gripping your hand tighter. You felt him gasp when a little spot of blood formed around the needle stab. He stared up at you, his face fighting back tears. You had seen him be hit by busses and hardly shed a tear, take a baseball bat to the knee cap and be running after kids the next day, but at the sight of a little blood he was ready to start crying again. 

 

You had expected the visit to drag but as soon as the nurse left, the room became a revolving door of faces. Nurses, ER techs and doctors, one of which introduced themselves as an orthopedic surgeon all entered the room and just as quickly left it. At one point you and Gwen had to leave so they could wheel in a huge x-ray machine. More quickly than you would have anticipated, you now knew that David had broken his leg in three places and had four cracked ribs, weather those were from the fall or getting hit by the bus you couldn't say. 

The orthopaedic surgeon, whose name you learned was Dr. Cooper, informed David that he would need surgery to repair the break. He had reluctantly agreed to staying the night, on the condition of you or Gwen stay with him. Not wanting to push Gwen into anything she didn't want, you opted to stay. 

“You sure you don't want to sleep in a bed?” Gwen asked flatly outside of his proper hospital room. 

You stifled a yawn. “I don't think I could drive back to camp without passing out on the road. Besides, I'm the reason he's hurt. I should be the one to take care of him.” 

Gwen raised an eyebrow. “I thought you couldn't stand David.” 

You spared a glance into the room where you saw him chatting with a nurse. “I guess spending some time getting to know him has changed my mind.” You felt a warmth growing in your chest when you looked at him. He was all smiles, trying to look on the bright side as he spoke with the hospital staff. You couldn't help it, you let yourself smile, just a little bit. 

Looking back to Gwen, you saw her mouth slightly agape as she watched you, “Really?”

You shrugged before walking into the room. Gwen followed you, brushing shoulders with nurse as she left. David's face lit up when he saw you and Gwen. “I'm going to stay with you here, alright? You announced, stripping off your jacket. 

He leaned over, glancing at Gwen, “Will you be able to handle camp by yourself?”

“Don't worry about the camp, I've been able to do it so far,” she rolled her shoulders. “I'll be back tomorrow evening.”

David looked up at here, eyes shining, “Thank you.” 

“Don't get all sincere now,” she snapped but a smile played on her lips, “As soon as your done here you'll be the one planning everything, got it?”

“Got it.” 

Gwen tossed the keys in the air before heading out, leaving you alone with David again. You pulled a chair up to his bedside and flopped into it. It may just be a cheap hospital recliner but it was better than the camp mobile any day. “You doing okay?” 

David slumped forward, clasping his hands together in his lap. “We're leaving Gwen all by herself again. We just got back and...”

“And you couldn't do anything on that leg,” you defended. “And I couldn't just leave you alone.” 

“You could have, I'm sure the campers would have liked to see you back,” he muttered. “I shouldn't have asked you to stay.”

Was he sulking? After everything you had been through the past few days, and he's sulking now? You grabbed his wrist. “It's okay to feel sad David. Your always so happy, but it must be exhausting.” 

For the first time that you had been alone with him, it seemed David didn't have anything to say. He was just lost in thought. You ran your thumb across the back of his hand, snapping him out of his trance. David gave you a small smile and he leaned against your shoulder. 

After the hospital staff had helped David with a shower, you snuck in and rinsed off too, rinsing out your underwear and shirt and left them to dry. You wore Davids pine tree shirt and your shorts while they hung in the bathroom. You returned to the chair, crossing your legs on the cushion. David had already passed out by the time you got out of the shower, curled up on his side, gripping a pillow. 

Without thinking, you ran a hand through his still drying locks. After a wash with the cheap hospital soap, his hair had become considerably fluffier and stuck up more like it normally did. His eyes fluttered open and you went to draw back your hand. David caught your wrist, staring sleepily up at you and pressed his mouth against the back of your hand. You felt a blush rising as he fell back to sleep, still gripping your wrist. 

\---

You were left alone in the hospital room the next morning. Thankfully they had actually gotten David into surgery on time and should be done in a few hours. Even though it was just a surgery on his leg, you still felt a pit form in your stomach. Whenever someone had went under the knife, you turned into a ball of anxiety no matter how minor or how safe it was. 

Taking to walking the halls of the hospital, you wished that Gwen would have been able to stay with you today. You had been keeping her updated over text message, and she had been keeping you updated about camp. You would have to tell David about that when he woke up. 

Every so often, you would run your fingers along the back of your hand and sparks would shoot up your arm. It hadn't even really been a kiss, just kind of a mouth press. And it's not like he really knew what he was doing with how tired he had been. David probably had a bunch of pain meds on board and probably wouldn't even remember most of yesterday. But you still found yourself dying to know what that mouth would feel on yours. 

You cursed yourself for thinking about David like that again, but had pretty much given up on suppressing the thoughts. Busying yourself with the hospital shop, you found a few stuffed animals piled onto one of the shelves. Buried in with amongst stuffed beavers, you found a plush platypus about the size of your lower arm. You didn't know what David's favorite animal was, but this would at least remind him of camp. It was probably way overpriced, but you bought the toy anyway along with a bottle of soda. You didn't think you could eat anything, but maybe the bubbly drink would help calm your nerves. 

Eventually, you found yourself back in the hospital room, flipping through channels. You couldn't stay on one channel, your nerves making it to difficult to stay focused on anything. That, and there was nothing on TV. Picking at a spot on your arm had taken over your focus. 

How long had it been? Four hours? Six? He should be back now, right? You groaned and flopped back into your chair. Worst thing about hospitals, no one telling you anything. It was just a waiting game. Anything could be going wrong and you would never know. Was that what was happening? God, you had only gotten to know David for like three days, you couldn't let something bad happen. You still had so much to talk about with him. 

You jumped to your feet, ready to go and speak to the nurse when the door opened. A bed containing you co-counselor who was busy chatting away with the transport guy was wheeled in. You only heard part of the conversation but you were pretty sure it was mostly nonsensical camp songs. 

The transport guy hooked the hospital bed back up and turned to say something to you, but David's arm had found its way around your waist and pulled you into a sitting position on the bed. You let out a little yelp in surprise. For someone who just got out of surgery, he was surprising fast. 

“David, what are you doing?” you asked.

He was on his back with one arm extended for the nurse as she hooked his IV up and the other firmly secured on you. “You're warm.”

“And your cold,” you ran a hand over his chilly fingers. “Let's get you back under the covers.” You shucked his arm away and tucked it back beneath the blankets. David let out a whine. 

You forced a smile through your forming blush at the nurse. “He seems like he's doing alright.”

She nodded, “Everything went great. Your boyfriend should be doing better in no time.”

You stiffed, “He’s not my-” Glancing down, you met his green eyes and suddenly you couldn't finish your sentence. The nurse gave you a knowing smile and you almost said something again, but she was already gone. 

Willing yourself to stop panicking, you grabbed the bag from the gift shop and dropped it onto his chest. You didn't say anything as you sat back down, you're knees and heels glued together. David slowly glanced from you to the bag before putting two and two together and pulling the stuffed animal out. 

“I know it's for kids but I thought you might- Aw hell don't start crying,” you knelt by his bedside, once again wiping away his tears. “I didn't buy it so you could cry again.” 

He buried his face in the crook of your neck and muttered a small, “Thank you.” You could tell he wasn't about to let go, so instead you crawled into the bed, careful not to move his leg. 

You laid there for a moment with his face pressed into your neck as he stopped his crying. “When we get back to camp, we can't keep doing this.” You felt him go a slack behind you and the gentle utterings of tree names were whispered in your ear. You sighed, but pressed into him, just letting yourself enjoy the moment of closeness. 

\---

Gwen showed up that evening as she promised. But dear god, do you wish that this was the one time that she flaked out. You had fallen asleep next to David harder than you had thought possible. Sleeping on the ground and then in a chair had proven to not be the most restful places. 

You had woken up to the smell of cheap chinese food and the door closing. Groggily, you sat up on your elbows and squinted at the person who had just walked in. You assumed it was the nurse, but as your vision cleared, you realised that it was instead your cool, maroon haired coworker. “Ah...” was all you could manage when you met her gaze. 

“So is this...” she gestured to you and David, not even batting an eye, “Something I should know about.”

You moved to get up, but found Davids arms still around you. He really loved holding on, didn't he? As carefully as you could, you slid out of his grasp, replacing yourself with the platypus. David's face scrunched together for a moment before hugging onto the stuffed animal and falling back to sleep. 

“ ‘This isn't what it looks like’ isn’t going to work, is it?” your heart sank. This was your boss and you had been walked in on sleeping next to him, wearing his shirt nonetheless. It wasn't even when you were doing so to keep warm. This could be bad, like lose your job bad. 

“Nope,” Gwen sat back in the chair, popping the ‘p’ for emphasis. 

You leaned against the wall and bit your lip. “I like him,” you snarled out. If denying it wouldn't work, then you were going to own these feelings. “Okay?”

Gwen shrugged, taking a swig from a soda that she had brought. “Yeah, I got that much.” 

“I’m a fucking idiot,” You wanted nothing more than to punch a hole in the drywall. 

“Yep,” she said still popping her words. “I thought you hated the guy.” 

“I did.” 

“And now you all cuddled up to him. Care to explain?” 

You groaned, “I guess getting to know him changed my mind? Being stranded with someone would help anyone get over their differences. 

“Differences: yes, sleeping in the same bed: no,” she pinched the bridge of her nose between thumb and forefinger, “Seriously, I’m not mad. What happened?” 

That's when everything came bubbling out. You told her everything, how David had panicked and got you lost, how he had actually calm down from the camp counselor role for once, even how you had ended up sleeping in the same sleeping bag. You could feel pin pricks of tears forming in the corners of your eyes by the end of it. Gwen didn't say anything, but at some point scooted to the edge of her seat, suddenly way to invested in what you had said. Hell, did she think you were one of her shitty TV shows? God, you hoped not. 

“Is there... Is there a rule against dating coworkers here?” you finally asked. Gwen shook her head ‘no’ and you felt like a weight had dropped off your heart. “Really?”

“I mean even if there was, I doubt that Campbell would even care,” she pointed out. 

You shrugged in return, “I guess you're right.” slowly, you slumped down onto the floor. This floor was probably filthy, covered in ebola and shit. But it was still a place to sit so it didn't matter.

Gwen sighed, “There no rule that I know of, but listen, David... he’s well...” she rubbed her chin trying to find the right word. “Impulsive. He jumps into relationships way too fast and if something goes wrong...” she grimaced, probably remembering an instance when something had gone wrong. 

Putting your head in your hands you groaned, “Why did I have to have a crush on a moron?” You raked your fingers down you face 

Gwen let out a chuckle, “That is all on you. It's not my fault you have weird taste in guys.” Suddenly you were being yanked to your feet. “Just... don’t hurt him okay?”

Gripping Gwen by the elbow you said, “I don’t intend to.” You glanced to the sleeping David. “You brought Chinese food right?” 

She held the bag up and grinned. “Only the best.” Using the little hospital tray on wheels, she dished out several boxes of food. 

Using a small voice you shook David awake, “Gooood morning!” 

David tried to sit up with his normal vigor, a clumsy salute barely making it to his forehead. “Goooood morning- owie!” his hand immediately clasped over his leg. “I... have a cast?” He pulled the blanket back, examining the thick bandage that now contained his leg. 

“Well yeah, that's what happens when you fall off a cliff,” Gwen mocked, pushing the food to him. “Don’t make yourself sick.” 

David's face lit up when he saw the cheap chinese. “Gwen! When did you get here?” he asked, fumbling with a plastic fork. 

“Like ten minutes ago. I thought you would wake up when you smelled the chow mein,” she unwrapped another vacuum sealed utensil and took a scoop of fried rice with too much soy poured over it. “How do you feel?”

“Oh... I hurt all over,” he said after a moment, “But it’s okay! Dr. Cooper said that I would be sore for a while. They put a metal rod in my leg, so I’m not surprised.” David shoved a bite of noodles into his mouth. 

“Call the nurse please. They have shit to help with that,” Gwen ordered. 

He shook his head, “Oh no. That's okay. I'm use to it.” 

...Use to it? You knew that he took a beating from the kids sometimes but was he really in pain all the time? Based on the bruising you had seen on his chest, it shouldn't be that much of a shock. 

“You just had major surgery, when those meds wear off, your going to be in a lot of pain,” she countered. “Just take something to stay on top of it. Please.” He sighed and pressed the little button to call. After he had popped a few pills in his mouth, Gwen began fiddling to with TV remote. 

“I wouldn't bother, they only have like twenty channels,” you warned form your sitting place at the foot of the bed. 

You went sure how she did it, but Gwen had found the Kardashians within five seconds of channel flipping. “Ye of little faith,” she laughed and reclined the seat. 

“Ooooh boy, trash TV,” you rolled your eyes, but watched the program and did your best to keep your criticisms to yourself. 

David seemed to be invested enough but you could tell that pain pill was starting to kick in a bit. David had leaned back into the pillows, head tilted slightly to one side. His pupils were blown wider than you had seen before and cheeks were a bit flushed. He honestly looked a bit like when you had spent the night by the river, the blissed expression from when he had... 

A sudden burst of shouting derailed your train of thought. You returned your attention to the television. Re-adjusting your seat, you leaned back on your hands to get a better view of the TV. You felt a hand fold over your own and without looking, you smiled. 

\--- 

You had agreed to stay with him again the next day. Gwen didn't even try to offer to take your place, instead she just gave you a knowing smile before heading out. “Don't go stir crazy in here. Just ‘cause you've got a high off of a new crush doesn't mean you have to stay here all the time.” 

She made you promise to take a break some time today and to come back to camp the next day. Gwen assured that she could handle it but you were still the new counselor on the block and couldn't let you off the hook that easily. 

David's pain was worse the second day. The anesthetic had mostly worn off and the hospital staff had gotten him moving around on crutches. He cried a bit when it was done, but for the most part he was too hopped up on pain meds to do much other than sleep. 

Keeping your promise, in the afternoon, you ducked out to the town of Sleepy Peak. It was too small and quiet for words, but it felt good to get out a bit. Tired of hospital food, you grabbed a bite at the one restaurant/bar that the town had. 

Being two in the afternoon, you were the only patron. Well you and some guy who you assumed was passed out drunk in the corner. The burly bartender paid him no mind and instead served your bar food. 

Say what you want about Sleepy Peak, the bar had some damn good food. Either that, or your taste buds were just rejoicing from not having hospital food. You paid for the meal and you were about ready to head back, when you passed by a grocery store. Maybe when Gwen came to get you, you could pick up the supplies for handmade ice cream. Yeah, they kids would like it and it would be easy for you to keep them form beating each other up.

At least once you got back, you would have some idea of what you wanted to do. With some semblance of a plan, you returned to the room. David was sitting up in bed, a bored expression on his handsome features. Had you really just called him handsome? Well, it's not like it was wrong but you had never thought of him like that. You had just kind of grown to like him... 

A smile split his face when he saw you. He didn't say anything, but you sat down at the foot of the bed and crossed one leg under yourself. “How's the leg?”

“Painful, but the doctor says I'm doing really well,” he shrugged. “I should go home the day after tomorrow.”

You tried to let out a laugh, but it came out almost as a sob, “How do you do it?”

“Hm?” 

“How do you always stay so positive? You fall off a cliff, you get hurt all the time, hell the campers downright abuse you sometimes. But I've only seen you get upset about the whole thing like twice,” you were a mix of emotions, wanting to cry and laugh all at once. “No one deserves to be treated like that, least of all you. But you are here acting like it's no big deal, I don't get it.”

David put his palm on the small of your back, his thumb tracing circles, “Where does being upset about it get me? I can't dwell on it, I just need to keep trying. A positive attitude helps me do that."

You knew that how he was, but you didn't want him to push himself to be happy when he wasn't. You wanted to tell him that it was wrong to push himself to do that. But when he talked about the camp, the way his face lit up, it didn't matter that he was wrong. Shaking your head, you turned to face him, and let out another half laugh half sob and stared up at the ceiling and laid back against him, careful not to put any pressure on his ribs or more his leg. “But is it worth it?”

David didn't say anything for a moment, just snaked his arm around your waist, “I think so.”

Eventually you curled up to him and lay back into the bed. You weren't sure if it David or you turned on the TV but somehow an action movie from the eighties had ended up playing. You had ended up with one arm on his chest and your head on his shoulder. Surprisingly, neither of you seemed to mind the closeness. You watched your hand rise and fall with each of his breaths. 

Once every so often, he would jump a bit or let out a chuckle with genuine suprise or humor, paying no mind to your gaze. How one person could be so open, so pure with what they were feeling was beyond you. Mimicking his actions from earlier, you drew circles over his breast bone. You weren't sure what was driving you forward, but slowly, you moved your palm up to rest at his neck. You could feel your heart leap into your throat like it had so many times the past few days. 

Keeping your voice measured, you muttered, “...David?” He turned away from the screen, green eyes meeting your own. This is okay. This wasn't against the rules. If he didn't like you that was the end of it. You hissed out a small, “Fuck it,” and crashed you mouth against his. 

David jumped, but you paid little mind. Soft, was the only thought that filled you head. His lips were so soft. You held him to you for just a moment, until you realised he wasn't moving and pulled back. The reality of what you had just done hit you. 

“Oh god, David, I'm- I'm so sorry!” you leapt back. David had gone red all over. If you thought you had thought he blushed before, it was nothing compared to now. He was darker than his auburn hair, his mouth pressed into a tight line. “I didn't mean- I just--!” your heart sank. 

Whatever you had been thinking or feeling fell apart when David pulled you back into a kiss. Soft. Your fingers trailed their way to the back of his neck, twisting into the short hairs there, pulling him deeper into you. Everything felt so right in this moment. Pulling back for just a second you kissed him again. And again. 

You pressed against his chest and he left out a gasp. Oh shit. Did you hurt him? God, that was the last thing you wanted to do. But he pressed his mouth back to yours and you raked your fingers down him warranting another gasp. Swiping your tongue along his bottom lip caused him jump again, but opened his mouth just a fraction. You took it, deepening the kiss. 

Mind wandering for just a moment, you remembered that you weren't in the safety of your bedroom or even the cabin, but in a hospital. Reluctantly, you slowed yourself, pulling away from him. You pecked his lips one last time before withdrawing. His blush persisted, but the frozen expression from before had been replaced with one of desperation. Eyes half lidded and mouth slightly open, he leaned forward to make contact again, but was met with your index finger instead. 

You shook your head. You wanted to push further just to see how far he would let you go, if nothing else. But this wasn't the time nor the place. Well maybe it was the time. But the prospect of having a stranger potentially walk in on you really not something you wanted to come to pass. Reluctantly, you flopped back onto the bed. 

Returning to the silence before, David looped himself around you, holding you close once again. You weren't quite sure how long you lay there before saying, “I asked Gwen about rules for relationships at the camp. She said there wasn't one.”

Against your back, you felt him tense, “There isn't one. It's just not encouraged.” Now it was your turn to tense up. David would never go against the rules, even if they were arbitrary.

You managed a tiny, “Oh...” in response. 

“But...” he was quiet for a moment, “I would like to see where this goes.”


	5. Freeze Your Brain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo school started again. I may have to slow down the updates for a bit until I have my time managed a bit better. Thank you for all the support! It really keeps me going. I should still be able to update once a week, but not much more than that.

The next day, Gwen was supposed to come pick you up. Instead you woke up with a text ranting about how she couldn’t leave the camp now because she now couldn’t leave the kids alone with Quartermaster. In retrospect, that really had been a horrible decision. She asked if you could somehow catch an uber or a bus or something to get back to camp. You didn't really like the idea of paying a hundred bucks for a ride and there wasn't a bus that went all the way to camp, but you didn't really have a choice. You couldn’t just hang out in the hospital and abandon Gwen to the kids for any longer than you already had. 

David seemed positively jealous when you told him that you were going back today. He immediately started spouting ideas about activities that you just had to start planning. “And you just have to get the stuff for tie-dyeing! I know that Max was looking forward to that one. Oh! And the rock candy strings that we started are probably about done! And-” 

You giggled, effectively cutting him off, “I’ll get everything set up, don’t worry about a thing.” You pulled on your jacket and stuffed the rest of your clothes into a plastic bag that the nurse had given you. 

“Oh, I know. You’re gonna do great!” he grinned, “I just want to make sure everything is perfect.” And he went right back to listing more activities. 

Your phone pinged, signaling that your uber had arrived. You were impressed that even in this tiny town you could still find a ride relatively quick. “I’ve gotta go.” 

David hugged onto your waist, “Tell everyone I'll be back soon.” 

Once he let go, you sat down next to him. “I will.” Still not sure where everything was in this relationship, you placed a quick kiss on his stubbly cheek, hoping that was okay. Before he could say anything, you bolted up so he didn't see your blush. “I'll see you soon!” And you darted out if the room. 

The ride was mostly quiet. You would have welcomed some conversation but your driver at least didn't seem creepy and was keeping to the most basic route from town to camp. Then again, there really was only one road to camp. For the most part you just busied yourself with your phone. You thought about texting David’s number. You knew that he wasn’t on the other end, but maybe you should say ‘hey’ to Max. When you first got back he had looked at you so incredulously, eyes full of accusation. And then you had up and abandoned him for another three days without so much of a word to let him know what was going on. He must love you right now. Your finger hovered over the send button a moment longer before you closed the messaging app. 

Instead you opted for scrolling mindlessly through you social media feed. See what you had missed in the few days you were gone. It felt good to not be worried about David, to not stress over Max, to just be passively absorbing the information from your bright little screen. It passed the time. The camp was alit with excitement when you got back. But that was for the home made ice cream supplies that you had stopped for on the way up. Gwen looked more than a bit exhausted and nearly sobbed when she saw you show up with an activity planned and ready to go. Once you had rounded up all the kiddos and had them squishing cream, sugar and ice in ziplock bags, you sat down next to Gwen.

“So how has it been?” You finally asked. 

She stared back at you, eyelids heavy and hair more than a little mussed up, “Never leave again. That was a horrible idea.” 

“I said I was okay staying,” you pointed out. 

She gave you a tired smile. “It’s okay, just don’t go and live in the hospital again.” 

“Believe me, the beds here may blow, but they are better than the damn recliners.” That's when you heard a pop. Nikki had burst her ice cream baggie and was now throwling the contents at Neil, a wicked grin on her face. “Oh no.”

“Nikki, you put that down!” Before you or Gwen could make it across to her, the sugary half made ice cream was flying around camp. A handful of the sweet substance hit you hard in the side of the face.

“Nerf!” you turned on your heel only to have another smack you in the back of the head. 

“Ice cream fight!” someone shouted and you narrowly dodged another handful of ice cream. You did the only thing you could do, you grabbed Gwen by the arm and retreated. An ice cube hit you hard in the back of the calf as you ducked behind a tree. You knew better than to rush into a food fight that was suddenly in full swing. Catching your breath, you let the kids just fight it out. The ice cream could only last so long before it turned back into sugar milk. 

Once the kids had collapsed and the throwing and shouting had died down, you and Gwen emerged from the sanctuary of behind the tree. The kids were covered in melted ice cream but looked like they had worn themselves out. One at a time, you and Gwen got all of the kids up and did the only thing you could to get them unsticky-fied as quickly as possible. 

You threw them in the lake. 

\---

David was all set to come back to camp the next day. You knew because he had shouted it over the phone and you were pretty sure he almost blew your speaker out. “David, can you calm down just a little please?”

“I’m sorry! I’m just- Gosh! I’m so excited to be back!” he announced over the hospital phone. You couldn't help but smile at the idea of him coming back. With a newfound appreciation for him, you honestly couldn’t wait to see him teaching again. Especially after the fiasco earlier today. 

“Well, you’ve got to be careful when you get back, you’re still on crutches,” you reminded him. He let out a little huff. “I just don’t want to see you hurt again.” 

“I won’t hurt myself.” 

“Uh-huh,” you tapped your finger nail on the back of your cell. “Well, Gwen and I should be there around ten.” 

“Oh boy! I can't wait!”

Fighting back a blush, you said a quick goodbye, and hung up. You rolled over on the twin sized bed, you stared up at the wood thatched ceiling and just let yourself enjoy the warmth that was growing in your chest. 

“You’ve got it bad, huh?” Gwen said, peering over her magazine. 

The blush that you had been forcing down rushed over your cheeks, “N-no! I don’t have ‘it’ bad! I don't even know what ‘it’ is!” You rolled over and buried your face in your pillow. 

You heard Gwen chuckle, “Seriously, it's just David. You don’t need to get so worked up like a damn teenager. Last week you couldn’t stop complaining about how you had to avoid him, and now? Good luck getting you away from him.” You groaned into the pillow and peaked out at her. “You’re lucky he's as clingy as you are.”

“I know I’ve got a problem, I don’t need you to repeat it back to me,” you half snapped half mumbled out. 

“Hey, I was just going to offer some advice, but if you don’t want it...”

“The garbage you read on dating forums does not count as advice,” you retorted. 

She scoffed, and turned another page in her magazine. “Nevermind.” You laughed before rolling over onto your side, welcoming the comfort of your own bed and drifted off to sleep. 

\---

With a bag of David's clothes, you darted into the hospital flashing Gwen a thumbs up. Having pretty much memorised the layout of Sleepy Peak General, you easily found your way back to his room. With a quick knock you opened the door. 

“You’re back!” David nearly jumped out of bed, briefly forgetting his broken leg. “And got here ten minutes early.” You were glad to see that some of the color had returned to his face. It was just too bad that some of that color was purple bruising. But overall he did look more alert and his excitement seemed to be elevating his entire demeanor. 

You tossed the bag to him. “What? Did you think I abandoned you to be sacrificed to the hospital deity?”

For a moment David looked legitimately scared before spotting you smug expression and giving you a little laugh. “You know I'm not good with sarcasm.”

“I know. I'm sorry.”

“... Was that sarcasm?”

“No.”

His eyes narrowed, “Was that?”

“Oh my god, I’m trying to apologize!” you nudged his shoulder. 

David raised his brows a small smile playing on his face, “Was that sarcasm?” 

Realising what he was doing, you snatched the bag out of his hands and threw the shirt in his face, “Oh screw you! I am not going to be a bad influence on you, you stop it with that sarcasm immediately!” 

You moved to get up, when David’s hands pulled you back onto the bed with him, “Or what?” He grinned playfully, his mouth suddenly a lot closer and your face suddenly a lot hotter. He kissed you again, holding it a moment to long. So this wasn't just a one time thing. 

“We should...” you tried to say but he pressed his lips to yours again, causing an electric current run through your body. “David, we should go. Gwen is waiting.” 

He whined, trying to catch your mouth one more time as you pressed the button for the nurse. As much as you might like to help him get dressed, you didn't think that would be appropriate and the very thought had your face looking like a tomato. You ducked out of the room and shot Gwen a text that you were almost done. When the nurse left, you returned to find David dressed as he always was. Pine tree shirt, bandana securely fastened and eyes shining brightly. The only thing out place was the white cast from the knee down on his right leg and the lack of his brown vest. 

Either the nurse or himself had moved him to a wheelchair, the crutches laying across the arms of it. “Good to go?”

“Good to go,” he repeated with a nod. With that, you wheeled him down stairs to the curb. He glanced around, “I don’t see the camp mobile.” 

Not being able to help yourself, you cracked a grin, “We didn't take the camp mobile.” A large yellow bus rounded the corner. 

David’s jaw dropped in a look of true surprise. It quickly melted to utter joy as his eyes bounced between you and the bus that was now dangerously close to another car. You prayed that Quartermaster was better at driving this in town than he was in camp. “You brought the whole camp?” 

Resting a hand on his shoulder, you said, “Well, the campers at least. Believe me, getting some of that on that bus was a challenge.” The bus screeched to a halt in front of you and the door slid open. The wrinkled and mustached face of the Quartermaster greeted you. Not the first face you would have chosen to see, but David seemed overwhelmed nonetheless. Having become surprisingly effective on his crutches, he boosted himself onto the bus. 

“Hey kiddos! Guess who’s back!” David announced, nearly hopping up and down on his good leg. 

Nikki’s hand shot up, “Ooooh! Is it Santa Claus?”

“What? No, Nikki, it’s me,” David sighed. She brushed him off like it was no big deal. “Your ol’ pal David is back!” 

Nurf spoke up next, “I as am glad to see you back David, I believe that Gwen promised us ice cream.” Gwen shot a half grimace, half smile in his direction. 

He shook his head, not really surprised, but didn't look disappointed either. “Alright, ice cream it is.” You sat next to Gwen, leaving David to prop his leg up on the seat next to him. He busied himself with chatting with Preston who, unsurprisingly, wanted to make a play about his accident. You had taken to gazing out the bug smeared window at the broken down little town. It really was quite quaint, even if fun was supposedly outlawed. As everyone disembarked from the bus to the little ice cream stand at the edge of town, you thought that you would risk just a little fun.

There was a little park near the ice cream shop. Well it was more like a clearing with some benches, but it was better than nothing and the kiddos seemed from enjoy being away from camp. You and your other counselors found the bench with the best view to keep an eye on the campers. 

In your experience, people just getting out of the hospital rarely found going outdoors to be the best option. You supposed David wasn't most people. If you had cooped him up in the counselors cabin, he probably would have been worse than he had been in the hospital. You could just imagine his face pressed against the window while you and Gwen ran activities without him. As cute as it might be, you would feel awful about it and you're sure he would be even more miserable than if you just let him join in. 

After paying for the ice cream, you brought a scoop of triple chocolate brownie over and shoved it into David’s hand. “You wouldn't tell me what you liked, so you get brownie now,” you sat down next to him and caught a drip off your own cone. 

Around the clearing, the campers had divided up into their cliques. Thankfully, most seemed to be appeased with the ice cream alone and didn't really get into much trouble. It honestly felt good to just relax and you hoped the kids felt the same. You weren't too sure about David through. He was always had a get up and go attitudes round the kids, but with a glance you didn't have to worry. He was busy observing the kids, much like his normal routine and just keeping an eye on them.

“If you don’t eat that it’ll melt,” you pointed out as some of the ice cream dripped onto his fingers. Breaking his attention from the campers, he ran his tongue along the back of his hand. Your eyes went wide as he licked his fingers clean. 

“God damn it, we have napkins,” Gwen snapped from his other side, “Don’t be gross.” 

He muttered a small apology and went back to overseeing the kids again. Did he seriously not think about that? Was it because you were watching? He was all innocent all the time, but what the hell was that? Shaking the notion from you head you snapped your gaze to the horizon. 

You scarfed the rest of your ice cream down and began loading the kids back onto the bus. Honestly, the hardest person to find was Quartermaster. When Gwen finally returned with him, her face was a mask of horror so you didn't ask what he had been doing and insead took your seat next to her. You opened your mouth to say something, but she just shook her head and faced forward as if she was staring into the abyss. 

Max and Neil had snagged the seat behind you and Gwen and Nikki and Space Kid one seat back. Normally you would welcome Max's company but ever since he had first seen you with David when you got back, you felt like a wedge had been driven between you too. You knew Max didn't hate the guy nearly as much as he said he did but that didn't mean he'd approve of your new relationship with David. 

You tried to just keep your mouth shut. Max wouldn't bring anything up with David just sitting there, would he? Probably not but you knew that question was inevitable. From what you overheard, he was planning to plant a smoke bomb in the counselors cabin. He knew you were listening, why was he planning that right here? Because he wanted you to know. Maybe a warning or because he wanted you to help, you weren't sure. 

With Gwen still processing whatever she had seen and David half zoned out from a dose of pain pills, there was no way either of them would retain what Max was saying. You almost stepped into the actual counselor role and scolded him and told him to knock it off, but if you did, he would call you out right in front of his friends. So you kept you lip zipped, promising yourself that you would confront him later when he was alone. 

When the bus finally rounded the corner to Camp Campbell, David was both itching to go and simultaneously halfway about to pass out. His excitatory body movements and zealous words would have you believe that he was roaring and ready to go, while his face told the opposite. With some convincing from you and Gwen, he agreed to take a nap, so long as he was able to help with the evening activities. 

Even after the setback the day before, you were able to run todays activity without a hitch. Which was surprising because it was capture the flag. You and Gwen captained the two teams but mostly let the kids have at it. Gwen's team won, no surprise there. She had both Max for brains and Nerf everything else. It was honestly good to see Max having a good time and not just because he was cooking up some new scheme. 

But for the most part it was all in good fun. Nerris may have attacked Harrison with a foam sword a little bit to viciously, but you would still call that a success. After you bandaged Harrison's scrapes, let the kids go to free time before dinner. Gwen had taken off to the lake to write and left you to keep an eye on things. 

Time to talk to Max. 

You found him with Nikki and Neil, busy planning on hijacking Space Kid’s space suit. What they wanted it for you didn't know, nor did you want too. “Hey, Max, can I talk to you?”

He nodded and Nikki and Neil moved to follow him, but he said, “Just hang out guys. We'll only be a minute.” And he followed you back towards the other side of the tents. “So whats up?”

“You know, you really need to be more careful about where you plan your pranks,” you crossed your arms over your chest. 

“What? That stuff on the bus?” he snorted and shot you a smirk, “That wasn't planning. That was bait.”

“Bait?” 

His smirk deepened, “Your here aren't you?”

You furrowed your brow and scowled at him. You had considered it was a possibility, but honestly, you had thought he was just getting careless. “You know, you can ask me anything. No need to ‘bait’ me.”

“You say that, but then all you've done is avoid me since you get back,” Max counterd. “Seriously, what the hell?”

Shifting from foot to foot and running your hands up you upper arms, you answered, “I wasn't trying to avoid you.”

“Bullshit, ever since you got back with David you've been acting all weird. Like all buddy-buddy with him.”

“I'm not... I wasn't...” how was it fair that a ten year old could call you out like this?

“And now you are even confronting me about breaking the rules? Last week you would have helped out! Two days away and David brainwashed you? ” Max snapped, anger starting to leak through his normally cool demeanor. You opened your mouth to reply when he cut you off, “What? Are you dating him?” Almost bashfully, you stared at the ground, nails biting into the flesh of your arm. 

Max's eyes widened, a look of realization washing over his face, “Oh my fuck you are.” 

Okay that was it. Face red and fists clenched, you were ready to say something when a loud crash followed by laughing children sounded from the other side of the camp. “What does it matter if I am?” You grit your teeth and took off towards the sound. 

 

You avoided Max the rest of the day. Sure it was exactly what he said you had been doing, but you were pretty sure he was avoiding you too. At least there was that. You didn't stay out long after dinner, instead returning to the cabin and leaving Gwen to tuck the campers in and make one last round through the camp. David had busied himself with a marathon of Gwen's DVD’s. He was only half paying attention when you entered the cabin with a sigh. Without a word you leaned over the back of his chair and wrapped your arms around his neck. 

“How do you do this every day?” you asked into his shoulder. 

David pressed his head against yours and ran his thumb across the back of your hand. “What do you mean?”

Deal with Max hating you? “Chase down those kids? It's exhausting. I've only been back for two days and I could sleep for three years,” you untangled yourself from him and rested your palms on his shoulders and began kneading his muscles. 

Through measured breaths, he said, “It takes... practice.” David suppressed a moan, closing his hand over his mouth. You pressed into his deltoid. “L-like that...”

With a smirk, you leaned forward and pressed your mouth to the shell of his ear. “If you lay down I can do this even better.” 

David didn't say anything for a moment, pondering your proposition. Then with a quick nod, he said, “Okay.” You rolled down the sheets and helped him over to the bed. With him laying on his stomach and injured leg propped up on a spare pillow, you went back to work. With running your fingers up and down his back, David let himself melt into the bed. 

You loved how receptive he was to your touch. Always leaning into you or stifling a noise, like he had never had anyone touch him like this before. Maybe no one had. Delicately toying with the hem of his shirt, you asked very quietly, “Do you want to take this off? He had his head pressed into the pillow so you couldn't see his face, but down the back of his neck was turning a light pink. If you would have blinked you might have missed his curt nod. You untied his bandanna with one hand and with his help, you lifted his shirt over his head. David buried his face back into the bed and twisted his hands into the sheet. Gently, ever so gently, you glided you hands over his back. 

You could feel his breathing increase with yours. David had taken off his shirt around you before, but that was for lifeguard training camp. He had never been so close. Although they weren't overly visible, scars decorated his skin. A discoloration ran along the back of his ribs, maybe a burn? A few large gashes adorned his sides which you assumed were bites of some sort and a long thin scar ran from one shoulder down his arm. You leaned over, resting your knee on the bed for better balance. 

Heart pounding, you trailed you fingers down to David's hips and paused just before pressing your mouth to the back of his neck. “Is this okay?” 

You could see him visibly tense up before he rolled over, almost knocking you back. David was red down to his navel, his chest rising and falling rapidly. Taking this as a yes, you placed a kiss on his jaw. Moving down to his neck, David let out a whimper and his arms looped around you. As you bit down, he arched his back, his nails biting into your shoulders. You ran your tongue along the mark and brought your fingers to run over his nipple, causing a gasp to slip out of his mouth.  
The door just had to open. You and David leapt apart. Gwen wearily looked from you, to David, who was now clutching the blankets tightly to his flushed chest, and to her bed. Without a word, she stripped the hair tie from her maroon locks and grabbed her pajamas and ducked into the tiny bathroom. 

David and you shared a glance before both staring off to different corners of the room. “I, um, good night I... guess?” you suggested. 

“Yes! Good night! Thank you for, ah... t-that,” David stuttered out before yanking the blankets over his head and rolling over to face the wall. You were sure whatever good your massage had done him had been undone with that door opening. Maybe he would let you give him another one tomorrow.


	6. Outside

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okayyyyyy, so a few things. I have NEVER written anything smutty. Ever. Let alone posted it. But hey, first time for everything. Also, I am a cis female, so i apologize it the male at birth stuff is odd. This chapter is mostly two parts, fist half with female at birth then again with male at birth. Thanks soooooo much for reading this trash.

F!a.b. Reader

Things went on like that for a week or so. Although you were more careful about where you ran off with David. Usually opting for times when Gwen was taking over an activity. Too bad that was rather few and far between. If you weren't running something with David, Gwen was running something with him. David had insisted on being involved in every activity to make up for his missed days. That is until he was on the verge of passing out for exhaustion or pain. It often took more than a little convincing from you and Gwen to get him to lay down.

Once you and Gwen had even carried him back to the cabin after he had collapsed. David was significantly lighter with the help. 

You found yourself off with David maybe a quarter mile from camp on one of those rare opportunities. Laying on the blanket that he had insisted you bring along, you hooked your arm around his and gazed up at the light blue sky. Cloud watching was never something that you had ever considered part of your habit repertoire, but here you were. 

Unsurprisingly, he was busy explaining what each kind of cloud was. You had gotten pretty used to tuning his useless information out, opting to passively absorb the random facts instead. For the time you had been quasi- going out, this was the closest you'd had to alone time. 

Linking your fingers with his you interrupted his lecture about cirrus clouds. “Can I ask you something?”

Instead of answering, he gripped your hand tighter, “As I was saying, cirrus clouds are formed when-”

“Are we dating? Like officially?” you felt like a damn teenager asking, but you were pretty sure David had the romantic experience of one. 

He didn't pull away, but instead gripped even tighter. David didn't say anything for a minute, studying the sky instead. He opened and closed his mouth several times before finally saying, “Yes. I-- at least I hope so?”

You pecked his cheek. “Good.” Tearing him away from the clouds with a nip at his earlobe, you caught his mouth as he turned to to you. David let out a little sound of surprise as you kissed him. You ran a hand through his hair and pushed him onto his back. Peppering kisses down his neck, you found that sweet spot just behind his ear and he stifled a gasp. Forcing down a smirk, you returned to his mouth, to which he seemed a bit too grateful. David nipped at your bottom lip, wrapping a hand around the back of your neck and pulling you down. 

With your tongue meeting his, you played with the bottom of his shirt for a moment before trailing your fingers up his chest. David was firm under your hand, firmer than you had first noticed. Working outside had kept him in better shape than you'd expected. Giving his nipple a little pinch, you slid your hand back down, removing yourself from his shirt. David let out a whine at the loss of contact, but you quickly slung one leg over his hips, straddling him. Giving him a glance over and deciding that he looked perfect with you on top of him, you moved to trace a finger over his belt buckle. That's when he grabbed your wrist. 

Pulling back, you stared at him. For as modest and innocent as he normally looked, David was positively wanton right now. Eyes half lidded, slightly biting at his lower lip, clothes and hair both more than a little disheveled. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Planting another kiss on his cheek, you let out a sigh and moved off him. David scrambled back, sitting up against a tree, clutching a hand to his chest. “Is it a good idea to do this so close to camp?”

“I thought that's why we went out here,” you scooted closer, placing a hand on his knee, “David? Have you...” another sigh, “Have you ever done something like this? Sex.. I mean.” 

David found a spot on the ground that entrapped his gaze. “Once. But that was a... while ago.” 

Shifting closer again, “I don't want to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. If this is all you want to do, it's okay.”

“No!” David gripped at your hand. “I want to... I just...”

“Don't want to mess up?” you offered. David swallowed heavily and nodded. “Neither do I.” You leaned forward, pressing yourself between his legs. “I really, really don't want that.” 

“Slow?” he suggested, a bit breathless still, “We can take it slow?”

You patted his knee, pulling away. “Okay. Slow then. I can do slow.” 

David gripped the ground, twisting a handful of grass in his palm. For lack of a better word he looked... frustrated. “We don't have to stop.” 

Now resting your chin in your hand, you asked, “What do you suggest we do then, camp man?” 

Chewing his lip, David finally said, “I'll tell you if we take it too far. We stop then?” 

Agreeing, you resumed you position between his legs, pressing him harder against the tree. “If I do anything, anything at all, that feels wrong, tell me to stop and I will.” It was strange having this much power over someone. No, that was wrong. It was strange having someone trust you this much. 

Putting his earlier hesitation aside, he allowed you to resume tracing your fingers up his chest. If David was okay, then you weren't going to slow until he told you. He pulled you by the shoulders up to meet him, taking you by surprise when he crashed his mouth back into yours. Now half laying against him and half straddling his good leg, you looped one arm around his neck and moved the other back up his shirt. 

Taking more control than you were used to, David snaked his arm around and cupped your rear. You felt him gulp at the forwardness of his own action before giving your ass a squeeze. You jumped a little before you pressed back into his hand, and let out a little moan, trying to reassure him. He seemed to pick up on your message because he brought his other hand around and slipped it between the fabric of your shorts. 

David pulled you flush to him and began nipping at your collar bone. Each bit of contact sent a spark down your spine, adding to the growing warmth in your abdomen. Raking your nails through his hair, you let out a whimper. At some point, David had moved one hand up your shirt and groped at your clothed breasts. In response, you stripped off your shirt, taking your bra with it and leaving yourself bare in front of him. 

Familiar blush returning, David moved to look away as if to preserve your dignity. Maybe that was too bold. You caught his face in your hands. “Is this too much?” you whispered. 

David shook his head, still avoiding looking down, “N-no. Just... naked in the woods.” He let out a little half laugh. 

Returning his smile, you sat back into his leg and took one of his hands in yours. Guiding his hand from your waist band, you trailed his fingers up your skin until the pads of his fingers made contact with you bare breast. Tentatively holding his hand there, you silently wondered if anyone had ever done this with him, ever been this patient with him. 

Experimental, David rolled you nipple between his thumb and forefinger and you shuddered. Eyes now glued to your chest, David cupped both of your breasts, running his thumbs across them. Each little movement causing your breath to catch in your chest. With a moan, you fully straddled his hips, pinning him between your pelvis and the tree.

Oh. 

You really shouldn't have been taken by surprise by the erection pressing against your inner thigh, but here you were. Not breaking the kiss, you dipped a hand between you and him. David's breath hitched and he dropped one hand to your hip, the other still playing with the bud. Sitting back, you looked him straight in the eye trying to get some kind of signal. 

Then David bucked his hips into your hand. He was just full of surprises today. Palming him through his shorts you began moving down his body till you were chest level with his hips. Now that you could see his member straining against the fabric you realized how utterly uncomfortable it looked. Tracing a finger along him, you began unbuckling his belt with the other. You heard a moan escape his lips as you moved to pull down his shorts. You hadn't expected David to even get this far. “Want me to keep going?” Staring up at him through your lashes, you saw him hesitate just a second, biting at his lip. “It's okay if you don't want to.”

“I swear if you stop I'll-" he cut himself off, as taken back as you were at his words. “I'm sorry! I-if you want to stop you can... I'm okay.”

Reinvigorated, you pulled his blue boxers down. You had been hoping for green, but oh well. Even with the day as hot as it was, David still shivered as his member met the open air. Taking a moment to look him over, you noticed he was bigger than you thought thought he'd be. You must have been staring too long. “Is... is something wrong?” David asked, a waver heavy in his voice. Wrapping a hand around his shaft, you gave him careful lick. David trembled again. “Oh, mmm... mouth. You're using your mouth.” 

Running your tongue over his head, you asked, “Would you prefer my hand?” 

“Nope! This is fine!” he squeaked out. 

Still stroking him with your hand, you frowned, “I don't want to hurt-"

“Please keep going,” David gasped, his breathing starting to become more labored. Well if he was going to ask so nicely... You hollowed your cheeks and drew him fully into your mouth. 

David's hips jerked up for a second before forcing himself to freeze in place under you. You swallowed around his cock to try and stop yourself from gagging as he hit the back of your throat. David let out a ragged moan and closed a hand around his mouth. As much as you wished that he would just let you hear him, even this far from camp he was rightly cautious about making too much noise. So in return you let out a muffled moan of your own around his cock, sending vibrations through him. 

You could feel yourself getting wet just from the noises he was holding back and the weight of him in your mouth. As you ran your tongue from base to tip, David thrust up into your mouth. He tried to mutter out an apology, but only succeeded in babbling your name. Based on some of the noises that made it past his hand, David probably wouldn't last much longer. 

Bobbing your head up and down, you felt his hand entangle itself in your hair. David pulled at your roots probably harder than he realized and you loved it. Just the thought of that innocent exterior cracking and him giving way to something more primal set a fire in your heart. 

“Ahhh... I'm... I’m gonna--” David moaned out, trying to give you some warning. He tugged at your hair harder, trying to pull you off of his cock. Half obliging, you kept the tip pressed against your bottom lip and opened your mouth. Thick, hot ropes of white coated your mouth as David rode out his orgasm. Salty, you noticed, surprisingly so for someone as sweet as David was. He thrust into your hand a few times, struggling to catch his breath. 

You ran your tongue along your lips, collecting any of his cum that had missed and placed a kiss on his softening member. Taking a few tries to swallow, you slid up his chest. You didn't love the taste, but seeing David both embarrassed and somehow enticed sent a shiver down your spine. 

Placing a kiss on his jaw, you asked, “Too far?” 

David shook his head, then nodded. Then shook his head again, “That was... fun.” You traced your fingers up and down his chest and he wrapped an arm around you. You felt him gulp and fiddle with the hem of your shorts. “Do you want me to...?” 

“Not if you don't feel ready for that,” you said. He toyed with the hem a moment longer, debating on what he wanted to do, before resting his hand on your waist. 

If only for a moment, everything felt right. Work, the campers, your home life all melted away against that tree. It was just you and David. You didn't know how long you were the with David, staring between him and the sky between the branches, but it wasn't long enough. Eventually, David's eyes wandered to his watch. “Oh goodness! We really need to get back to camp. Gwen's is going on break soon.” 

Internally cursing, you helped him right himself, re-buttoning his pants and fluffing up his hair a bit. David ran his fingers through yours and helped you get your top back in place before you helped him up. 

As you headed back your thoughts turned to Max. The last time you had even spoken to him outside of normal camp activities he had accused you of dating. Not that he was wrong but here you were walking back all disheveled with David equally so. And now you were heading back with all that bouncing around your brain. 

 

\--- 

M!a.b. reader

 

Things went on like that for a week or so. Although you were more careful about where you ran off with David. Usually opting for times when Gwen was taking over an activity. Too bad that was rather few and far between. If you weren't running something with David, Gwen was running something with him. David had insisted on being involved in every activity to make up for his missed days. That is until he was on the verge of passing out for exhaustion or pain. It often took more than a little convincing from you and Gwen to get him to lay down.

Once you and Gwen had even carried him back to the cabin after he had collapsed. David was significantly lighter with the help. 

You found yourself off with David maybe a quarter mile from camp on one of those rare opportunities. Laying on the blanket that he had insisted you bring along, you hooked your arm around his and gazed up at the light blue sky. Cloud watching was never something that you had ever considered part of your habit repertoire, but here you were. 

Unsurprisingly, he was busy explaining what each kind of cloud was. You had gotten pretty used to tuning his useless information out, opting to passively absorb the random facts instead. For the time you had been quasi- going out, this was the closest you'd had to alone time. 

Linking your fingers with his you interrupted his lecture about cirrus clouds. “Can I ask you something?”

Instead of answering, he gripped your hand tighter, “As I was saying, cirrus clouds are formed when-”

“Are we dating? Like officially?” you felt like a damn teenager asking, but you were pretty sure David had the romantic experience of one. 

He didn't pull away, but instead gripped even tighter. David didn't say anything for a minute, studying the sky instead. He opened and closed his mouth several times before finally saying, “Yes. I-- at least I hope so?”

You pecked his cheek. “Good.” Tearing him away from the clouds with a nip at his earlobe, you caught his mouth as he turned to to you. David let out a little sound of surprise as you kissed him. You ran a hand through his hair and pushed him onto his back. Peppering kisses down his neck, you found that sweet spot just behind his ear and he stifled a gasp. Forcing down a smirk, you returned to his mouth, to which he seemed a bit too grateful. David nipped at your bottom lip, wrapping a hand around the back of your neck and pulling you down. 

With your tongue meeting his, you played with the bottom of his shirt for a moment before trailing your fingers up his chest. David was firm under your hand, firmer than you had first noticed. Working outside had kept him in better shape than you'd expected. Giving his nipple a little pinch, you slid your hand back down, removing yourself from his shirt. David let out a whine at the loss of contact, but you quickly slung one leg over his hips, straddling him. Giving him a glance over and deciding that he looked perfect with you on top of him, you moved to trace a finger over his belt buckle. That's when he grabbed your wrist. 

Pulling back, you stared at him. For as modest and innocent as he normally looked, David was positively wanton right now. Eyes half lidded, slightly biting at his lower lip, clothes and hair both more than a little disheveled. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Planting another kiss on his cheek, you let out a sigh and moved off him. David scrambled back, sitting up against a tree, clutching a hand to his chest. “Is it a good idea to do this so close to camp?”

“I thought that's why we went out here,” you scooted closer, placing a hand on his knee, “David? Have you...” another sigh, “Have you ever done something like this? Sex.. I mean.” 

David found a spot on the ground that entrapped his gaze. “Once. But that was a... while ago.” 

Shifting closer again, “I don't want to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. If this is all you want to do, it's okay.”

“No!” David gripped at your hand. “I want to... I just...”

“Don't want to mess up?” you offered. David swallowed heavily and nodded. “Neither do I.” You leaned forward, pressing yourself between his legs. “I really, really don't want that.” 

“Slow?” he suggested, a bit breathless still, “We can take it slow?”

You patted his knee, pulling away. “Okay. Slow then. I can do slow.” 

David gripped the ground, twisting a handful of grass in his palm. For lack of a better word he looked... frustrated. “We don't have to stop.” 

Now resting your chin in your hand, you asked, “What do you suggest we do then, camp man?” 

Chewing his lip, David finally said, “I'll tell you if we take it too far. We stop then?” 

Agreeing, you resumed you position between his legs, pressing him harder against the tree. “If I do anything, anything at all, that feels wrong, tell me to stop and I will.” It was strange having this much power over someone. No, that was wrong. It was strange having someone trust you this much. 

Putting his earlier hesitation aside, he allowed you to resume tracing your fingers up his chest. If David was okay, then you weren't going to slow until he told you. He pulled you by the shoulders up to meet him, taking you by surprise when he crashed his mouth back into yours. Now half laying against him and half straddling his good leg, you looped one arm around his neck and moved the other back up his shirt. 

Taking more control than you were used to, David snaked his arm around and cupped your rear. You felt him gulp at the forwardness of his own action before giving your ass a squeeze. You jumped a little before you pressed back into his hand, and let out a little moan, trying to reassure him. He seemed to pick up on your message because he brought his other hand around and slipped it between the fabric of your shorts. 

David pulled you flush to him and began nipping at your collar bone. Each bit of contact sent a spark down your spine, adding to the growing warmth in your abdomen. Raking your nails through his hair, you let out a whimper. At some point, David had moved one hand up your shirt and raked his fingers along your chest. In response, you stripped off your shirt, and moved to pull off David’s. He bit his lip. 

Maybe that was too bold. Backing off, you brought his hand back you your chest, encouraging him to resume what he had been doing before. “Is this too much?”

He glanced from your chest up to your face, then back again. “N-no. Just... naked in the woods.” He let out a little half chuckle. Returning his smile, you pressed him against the tree with a kiss and fully straddled him. 

You weren’t surprised about the erection pressed against your own. Not breaking the kiss, you dipped a hand between you and him. David's breath hitched and he dropped one hand to your hip, the other still playing with a nipple. Sitting back, you looked him straight in the eye trying to get some kind of signal. 

Then David bucked his hips into your hand. He was just full of surprises today. Palming him through his shorts you began moving down his body till you were chest level with his hips. Now that you could see his member straining against the fabric you realized how utterly uncomfortable it looked. Tracing a finger along him, you began unbuckling his belt with the other. You heard a moan escape his lips as you moved to pull down his shorts. You hadn't expected David to even get this far. “Want me to keep going?” Staring up at him through your lashes, you saw him hesitate just a second, biting at his lip. “It's okay if you don't want to.”

“I swear if you stop I'll-" he cut himself off, as taken back as you were at his words. “I'm sorry! I-if you want to stop you can... I'm okay.”

Reinvigorated, you pulled his blue boxers down. You had been hoping for green, but oh well. Even with the day as hot as it was, David still shivered as his member met the open air. Taking a moment to look him over, you noticed he was bigger than you thought thought he'd be. You must have been staring too long. “Is... is something wrong?” David asked, a waver heavy in his voice. Wrapping a hand around his shaft, you gave him careful lick. David trembled again. “Oh, mmm... mouth. You're using your mouth.” 

Running your tongue over his head, you asked, “Would you prefer my hand?” 

“Nope! This is fine!” he squeaked out. 

Still stroking him with your hand, you frowned, “I don't want to hurt-"

“Please keep going,” David gasped, his breathing starting to become more labored. Well if he was going to ask so nicely... You hollowed your cheeks and drew him fully into your mouth. 

David's hips jerked up for a second before forcing himself to freeze in place under you. You swallowed around his cock to try and stop yourself from gagging as he hit the back of your throat. David let out a ragged moan and closed a hand around his mouth. As much as you wished that he would just let you hear him, even this far from camp he was rightly cautious about making too much noise. So in return you let out a muffled moan of your own around his cock, sending vibrations through him. 

You could feel yourself getting harder just from the noises he was holding back and the weight of him in your mouth. You fought back the urge to slip your hand under your belt, instead opting to make this all about the man who was turning into a moaning mess. As you ran your tongue from base to tip, David thrust up into your mouth. He tried to mutter out an apology, but only succeeded in babbling your name. Based on some of the noises that made it past his hand, David probably wouldn't last much longer. 

Bobbing your head up and down, you felt his hand entangle itself in your hair. David pulled at your roots probably harder than he realized and you loved it. Just the thought of that innocent exterior cracking and him giving way to something more primal set a fire in your heart. 

“Ahhh... I'm... I’m gonna--” David moaned out, trying to give you some warning. He tugged at your hair harder, trying to pull you off of his cock. Half obliging, you kept the tip pressed against your bottom lip and opened your mouth. Thick, hot ropes of white coated your mouth as David rode out his orgasm. Salty, you noticed, surprisingly so for someone as sweet as David was. He thrust into your hand a few times, struggling to catch his breath. 

You ran your tongue along your lips, collecting any of his cum that had missed and placed a kiss on his softening member. Taking a few tries to swallow, you slid up his chest. You didn't love the taste, but seeing David both embarrassed and somehow enticed sent a shiver down your spine. 

Placing a kiss on his jaw, you asked, “Too far?” 

David shook his head, then nodded. Then shook his head again, “That was... fun.” You traced your fingers up and down his chest and he wrapped an arm around you. You felt him gulp and fiddle with the hem of your shorts. “Do you want me to...?” 

“Not if you don't feel ready for that,” you said, uncomfortably adjusting your pants a bit. He toyed with the hem a moment longer, debating on what he wanted to do, before resting his hand on your waist. 

If only for a moment, everything felt right. Work, the campers, your home life all melted away against that tree. It was just you and David. You didn't know how long you were the with David, staring between him and the sky between the branches, but it wasn't long enough. Eventually, David's eyes wandered to his watch. “Oh goodness! We really need to get back to camp. Gwen's is going on break soon.” 

Internally cursing, you helped him right himself, re-buttoning his pants and fluffing up his hair a bit. David ran his fingers through yours and helped you get your shirt back in place before you helped him up. The uncomfortableness in your crotch caused you to wince a bit, but you ignored it. 

As you headed back your thoughts turned to Max. The last time you had even spoken to him outside of normal camp activities he had accused you of dating. Not that he was wrong but here you were walking back all disheveled with David equally so. And now you were heading back with all that bouncing around your brain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thx again. I apologize profusely about any typos or inconsistencies. Please let me know if you like!


	7. S'mores

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh! I guess i lied about chapters slowing down. Thank you all so much for reading the smut. I had never done anything like thst before and all the comments and kudos really keep me writing. Anyways, here the next part!

Max didn't say a word. You knew he saw you. You knew he saw David. Maybe you could have lived with that. But you knew David noticed the harsh look he gave. Thankfully, the activity went off without a hitch, aside from Nerf putting a crack in Space Kid’s helmet. 

As you and David were packing up the zipline gear, he asked, “Is there something going on between you and Max?”

Maybe it was the wording but you gave him a horrified look, “What?”

“You and Max. You usually get along so well and it seems like you hardly talk anymore,” he said, tightening down a bag of nets. You had offered to pack up but he insisted on helping. 

“Oh,” you muttered at his clarification, “No, I just... pissed him off when we got back. I'm sure he'll get over it.”

“Max is always p-ed off. Gosh, if he didn't have something to be mad at, he’d probably make something up,” at this, he smiled. You knew that he had a soft spot for Max, but that mostly expressed through overzealous camp excitement. “I don’t think he has the best home life and I just want to make his experience here at camp the best he can have. If there something that's wrong... I'd really like to help him.” 

You groaned and helped him slam the already stuffed activities closet. “I can't lie to you, can I?” David met your eyes, interest piqued. “Max figured out that we're together. Like within five minutes of me getting back. He hasn't said a word to me since.” 

“He figured it out...?”

“Yeah. I'd say he's perceptive but I think we're just really, really... really bad at hiding it,” you admitted at you made your way back towards camp. There would be dinner and then a campfire. Personally you were hoping for s’mores. 

David's brows knitted together, a conflicted expression crossing his face. “Why would that be upsetting him?”

“I believe his exact words were you ‘brainwashed me’,” you sighed. 

Shaking his head, David said, “That's ridiculous. I didn't... brainwash you...” He took a deep breath, “We should talk to him. Together.”

You opened your mouth to speak, only to be cut off by the sound of a kid running up behind you. Nikki and Nerris shoved their way past you and David, very nearly knocking him over. 

“You'll never take me alive, evil wizard!” Nikki shouted over her shoulder, firing a squirt gun back at the other kid. The water missed its mark and David got the full blast. 

“That is beautiful sorcerer!” Nerris called back, nearly tripping over her own feet. 

“Nikki! Nerris!” David called after them. 

Shouting in unison, “Sorry David!” They darted off between the tents, blasting an unbeknownst Harrison in the back. David ran a hand through his now soaked hair, trying to get it to stand up a bit, but smiled after the girls. It wasn't that toothy grin that he gave either, just this sublet little smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth. 

“You love this too much,” you snarked at him.

Showing his teeth just a little, he nodded a few time to many, “This is where I always want to be, is it so bad that I enjoy it?”

You shook your head, “I’m glad you found where you want to be.” Green eyes shining, he moved to hold your hand, only to wobble horribly on his crutches. Placing a hand on the small of his back, you helped steady him. He muttered a small apology before continuing back towards camp. 

Dinner was Quartermaster’s normal slop, thankfully you convinced Gwen into ducking into the counselors cabin for some mac and cheese on the hot plate that she had. Way better. Honestly, you felt bad for the kids for having to eat... what was that, pasta? Or maybe way overcooked rice? But you didn't have enough to share with them. David tolerate the food, hell, he probably found it nostalgic. But that cheap box of cheesy mac was better than anything you'd had at this camp. 

With the mac and cheese successfully scarfed down, you and Gwen slipped back into the mess hall. Apparently the kids had gotten all of food throwing out of their system last week because they were all peacefully eating dinner. You slipped onto the bench next to David, and rested a hand on his thigh. You had meant to put a quick kiss on his cheek, but David just had to turn to look at you and you caught his lips instead. 

With a quick little blush, and a little noise of surprise from David, you jerked your attention back to the room of children. Thankfully, they didn't seem to have noticed. That is all but Nikki that is. That little green-haired gremlin was leaning over the table, her elbows firmly planted in David’s mashed potatoes, a grin that was all too wide plastered on her face. 

“Um. Hi. Nikki,” David stared back into her magenta eyes, tilting his head slightly to the side. “Can we help you with something?” 

“Are you two daaaating?” she asked, pushing some mashed potatoes off the tray and into David's lap. 

You rolled your eyes, “Yes, as if we went obvious enough, yes.”

Maybe David didn't want to let the whole camp know yet because he stuttered out a response, “Y-yeah w-we’re dating! A couple, you and me, yup! Totally, that's what normal adults do. Which I am!” 

If possible, her grin went wider, “Ohhhhh! I knew it!” She let out a little giggle, “I bet you hold hands all the time.”

You snatched up David's hand and showed Nikki. David had turned into a blushing mess and could barely hold onto you. “Now go finish your carrots,” you ordered, and she was off humming some love song to herself.

David had a palm over his face and was staring at you through his fingers, “Are you sure that was a good idea?” 

“I'm sure Max told them all already and they would find out sooner or later. I literally came over and gave you a kiss. It's not like we were being subtle,” you explained. Using the paper towels this place hand instead of napkins, you dabbed at his mashed potato covered shorts. “Do you want another tray?”

He took the paper from you, “I think I'd throw up if I ate anything else.”

“Shit, David, I didn't mean to stress you out,” you said. 

He shook his head, “No... it's okay. I need to be okay with this. You and me. I want people to know. I just don't know if the campers are the first people I would have told.” 

You rubbed his lower back, “It wouldn't have taken them long to guess what's going on. It's better if we are honest, don't you think?” David didn't say anything. “Come on, let's get some air.”

It was finally cooling off around camp, something for which you were more than grateful. Finding a spot near the tents, you and David used some of the folding chairs that were left out the day before. He still looked as conflicted as he had in the mess hall.Taking his hand in yours, you tried to catch his eye. “David, I am so sorry. I won't tell anyone unless your comfortable with it. Okay?”

David didn't say anything for a moment. “I was dumped... more recently than I'd like to admit.” Still clutching his hand, it was your turn to keep your mouth shut. “And I know it wasn't their fault, but as soon as the campers found out, five minutes later I got dumped. It wasn't their fault, but it's had to seperate that from the campers learning about it.” 

You couldn't help it, you let out a tiny, “Oh.”

“I guess what I'm saying is, I don't want that to happen again. Irrational, I know,” he let out a little laugh. 

You gripped his forearm with your free hand. “Irrational or not, I don't want you to feel that way. I'm not going anywhere. Regardless if the campers know or not, I'm staying with you.” David looked ready to cry, but instead pressed his mouth to yours. Kissing him back, you wondered how his lips could be so soft. Giving his hand a squeeze, you broke the kiss and rested your forehead against his. 

“Aw jesus, get a fuckin’ room!” a child's voice rang from behind you. Max was glaring daggers into you and David's backs. “First gotta hear about it from Nikki and now this? There are kids here you know.” 

To your surprise, David didn't immediately start blushing again. “Max! Just the kiddo I wanted to talk to.”

You heard Max let out a huff as he shuffled his feet in place. “Why?”

“Come on Max, we just want to talk,” you insisted. Hesitant as you were to talk to him, you couldn't just let this keep festering. He grumbled something under his breath but dragged feet over to you. You stood up and offered your chair, which he reluctantly took. 

Glaring between you and David, he snapped, “The fuck do you two want?” 

David sighed. “I know that your not to happy with us... dating.”

“I'm not mad about that, I'm mad because you took one of the decent people in this camp and made them another zombie camp counselor!” Max snarled. “Seriously, I couldn't give a shit if your fucking.”

“Max, language, please,” David asked, gritting his teeth a bit. “I didn't do anything, just because they are taking the counselors duties more seriously-" 

“I'm still me,” you cut him off. “I'm sorry that I've been distant. I just thought you would be mad that I was with David.” 

Max let out a huff, “I mean, I wouldn't have been happy about it! But you just fucking shut me out. For him!” 

You bit your lip. Yeah that was on you. “I'm sorry. I was an idiot.”

Hopping out of the chair, Max walked over, and frowned up at you. For a moment, his face softened. “Yeah. You were,” and with that he delivered a swift kick to your shin. 

Suddenly biting back tears and hopping on one leg, you choked out, “I deserved that.”

“Don't ignore me again!” Max pointed at you as he started walking off. He flipped his hood up and flashed you his middle finger before heading off.

David let out a kind-of nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck. “He get you good?” 

Lips pressed to tightly together, you stumbled into the chair. “Mmmm hmmmm!” Rubbing at your leg, you stared at him through tear blurred eyes. “Does that mean Max and I are friends again?” 

With a shrug, he said, “I didn't think you ever stopped.” You frowned at him. “Really! You were just in a rough spot.”

“Yeah, yeah,” you snatched one of his crutches from the ground. “I'm, ah, gonna get some ice for this.” And you were off hobbling to the mess hall. 

By the time you got back, David had started setting up for the nights camp fire. And by that you mean he was balanced on one crutch, struggling with a bag of marshmallows. Seeing him wobble a moment, you hopped over and caught him by the waist. Jumping in surprise, he tore the bag wide open, scattering puffy, white candy to the forest floor. 

“Aw, dang it.”

Giving him a little squeeze, you returned the other crutch to him. “Be careful with those ‘dang’s someone might think we have a rebel over here.” 

David gripped what was left of the bag, about half had survived. “We should still have enough for tonight...” 

“Do we have stuff for s'mores?” you inquired as you pressed the ice to your wounded shin. That was gonna leave a bruise. 

David nodded, “What kind of a camp would we be if we didn't have stuff for s'mores?” 

You bit back pointing out that this camp barely had enough cash to keep the electricity on, so not having candy bars and graham crackers wasn't beyond the realm of possibility. Instead, you gathered some wood for the campfire. 

Once you and David had set up the fire and he had retrieved his guitar from the cabin, you saw Gwen herding the kids over from the mess hall. You were rather impressed that she had managed to wrangle them all up. Granted, she was carrying Space Kid over by the seat of his pants. Still impressive. With little complaining, you managed to get all the kids set up with a marshmallow on a stick, and seated them around the rather large campfire. 

With marshmallows roasting over the flames, you finally sat back and relaxed in the cool evening air. You were positioned about equidistant from Gwen and David around the campfire, helping out Preston and Dolph when they needed it. Erid was too cool to accept any help from her lame camp counselor. For the most part, the kids had more experience with this than you did. Mostly you just made sure they didn't light themselves on fire. Which wasn't too hard. 

“Yikes! Hot!”

Across the flames, you could see David stomping out the flames Max’s marshmallow with his shoe. The marshmallow, now a charred black and white paste, stretched between the forest floor and the soul of David's boot. David's face scrunched in disgust as he began scraping it off with a twig that Neil had supplied him. 

“Don't burn your foot,” you called over the fire. “You already broke the other one.” He gave you a half smile before chucking the stick into the flames. It gave a little pop before turning to black ash. Under David's instruction, Max reluctantly managed to toast one over the embers. 

Once all of the kids had probably a few too many s'mores and marshmallows, you swiped the last puffy candy from the bag and stole a glance at David. He was busy singing and strumming away, much to a few of the kids dismay. Biting your lip, you moved to stick the marshmallow into the flames. 

“You're gonna burn it that way,” Max said from your side.

You pulled you stick back. “And your now the expert?” 

He hopped up on the log next to you. “David may have showed me some things, but I perfected it.” Max beckoned for the marshmallow twig. Shrugging, you handed it over. Mimicking his actions from earlier, he hovered the candy over the low flames.

“Whatever, just don't burn it,” you sniggered, letting him take over. 

After a moment of silence between you and Max, until he finally said, “So you and David are really a thing, huh?” 

You stared into the flames watching the last embers of them dance and flicker about. “Yeah. Weird huh?”

“Wayyyyy fuckin’ weird.”

You frowned. 

“But if that idiot makes you happy. Ugh... I'm okay with it,” he grunted. 

“Aww, Max -"

He turned on you, “If you tell David a word of this I will kill you!” Max jabbed the perfectly toasted marshmallow at you. 

Using a graham cracker, you scooped it off the stick and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Thanks.”

Max shot you a smirk for half a second then scowled up at you. “Enjoy.” He gave a comical bow before letting out a yawn. “Well, I'm gonna hit the bed. I mean hay. Whatever. Night.” Max stuffed his hands into his hoodie pocket and began trotting off towards his tent with another scowl. 

Smashing another gram cracker and a chunk of a hershey's candy bar onto the squishy treat, you took a way to large bite out of it. Stale. Of fucking course. Was there anything at this camp that didn't suck? Your eyes passed over the ginger counselor who was busy packing up his guitar. Okay, maybe there was one thing that didn't suck. Passing around the last of the fire, you planted yourself next to him. One by one the campers madec the way to their tents, the long summer sun dipping ever closer to the mountains. 

Under the purple and orange sky, you leaned against David, resting your head on his shoulder. His hand folding over yours. Just watching the sunset, the light starting to disappear behind the purple mountains, you let yourself smile. Out of the corner of your eye, you spotted Gwen coming toward to you. 

Before she reached you, you spoke up, “You go to bed Gwen. David and I will check on the kids one last time.” 

She sighed gratefully, “Don’t have to much fun.” Gwen shot finger guns at you and headed off to the cabin, rolling her shoulder in its socket. 

And with that, you and David dumped a bucket of water over the few glowing embers that were left behind and began a patrol around the camp. With a quick glance into each tent, you saw that most of the campers were bundled up in their bunks.You reminded Erid that it was lights out and to turn off her phone, but otherwise the campers were all set for a good night's rest. 

 

By the light of a lantern, David lead the way around the edge of camp. The light cut through the inky black rather well and cast shadows from the trees on the ground. The sound of crickets could be heard off in the distance and if you really tried, you could hear a river rushing in the distance. Other than the gnats and moths that were swarming around the light, it was quiet night really. So why David looked so nervous, you weren't sure. He was gripping the lantern handle too tight, and was moving rather stiffly on his crutches. 

And that's when he began moving along a path away from camp. Due to recent experience, you no longer followed him without question, and really didn't want to get lost again, especially at night. 

“David?” 

He jumped. 

“Where are we going?” you asked, narrowing your eyes at him a bit. 

A nervous laugh escaped his mouth, “Ah, I was, um, I mean... ah..” David ran a hand along the back of his neck. Even in the darkening forest, you could see a blush spreading over his face. “Iwasgoingtopayyoubackforwhatyoudidtoday.”

You raised an eyebrow at him, “What?” 

David clenched his fists and took a deep breath. “I was going to pay you back for what you did today...” 

Your eyes went wide, “Oh!” Now you felt your face grow hot. “You... don’t have to do that.”

“I want to!” he snapped. “I.... I mean... If you want to... that is.” David stared down, finding the patch of grass he stood on suddenly much more interesting than anything else. 

Finally, “I want to...too,” left your lips. David's face lit up as he glanced between you and his feet a moment longer. And you took the lead, pulling him further into the forest.


	8. In the Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry, it has been far to long since I updated. I got tied up with school. Anyway, this is divided up much like the last one, with F!ab first then M!ab second. Please enjoy!

With your back against the trunk of the smoothest tree you could find, David held you against it, pressings his lips hard to yours. The lantern had been discarded to the side, casting strange shadows onto the area. Compared earlier, David had upped his confidence, moving his hand up your shirt with less apprehension and pushed your bra aside. 

Smirking into the kiss, you slid one hand up the back of his shirt and the other dipped just bit below his belt. David's breath caught in his chest and he nipped at your throat. His breathing starting to become labored as you undid his belt. David pulled back, steadying himself with your shoulders. 

With a hand down the front of his pants, you asked, “Is something wrong?” 

David squeezed your breast. “I want to to do something for you...” 

You open mouth kissed him again, “You... don't... have to,” you moaned between each kiss. 

Before you could object, David's face lit up, an idea crossing his mind, and he dropped to his knees. You saw him grimace from landing a bit too hard and he began kissing along your stomach and hip bones while fiddling with the button of your shorts. His mouth was hot on your skin and you shivered in the cool night air. Slowly, David slid your shorts and panties to the ground, and let out a small “Ah...” as he looked you over. 

Did he like what he saw? Was this okay? God what if he didn't... You opened your mouth to tell him that he didn't have to go any further. David tentatively ran a finger along your slit, a moan escaping from you instead. His green eyes shot up to your face. When you didn't say anything, he dipped a finger into your heat once again, gathering some of the wetness there before dragging it along your clit. 

Your felt your breath hitch. It had been too long since someone else had touched you like this. Too long since someone had even thought of you like this. Every one of David's movements was calculated, keeping a close eye on your reactions as he stroked your little bundle of nerves. You twisted your fingers into his hair, trying to not pull too hard and slowly, he pumped a finger inside you. 

“Oh go...sh,” you choked out. 

David was now focused on his finger moving in and out of you, fascination crossing his features. In the pale moonlight, you could see a redness over his face, pupils blown wide. He added another, stretching you a little bit further. You trailed a hand around to the front of his shirt and grabbed a fistfull of the fabric, pulling David up a bit. Crashing your mouth against his, you let out another moan. 

David broke the kiss and settled back between your legs. You thought you saw him lick his lips before shooting a nervous glance up at you. Carefully, almost delicately, he ran his tongue along your folds and his other hand went to his member. You almost said something about how it wasn't fair that you didn't get to touch him, but instead settled to struggle out his name. 

Fingers moving in time with his mouth, David moved to suck on your clit. Your hips stutterd forward, bucking on his hand. David's name became a prayer on your lips and you gripped his locks tighter. You could feel something in you abdomen coil tighter as David’s careful movements became sloppier, yet still hit all of the right spots inside you. He moaned into your clit, his palm moving faster on his cock. 

God you wished you could touch him. 

You knew you were close. But the words of warning couldn't seem to form. Not with how his mouth felt on you and his fingers felt inside of you. A spreading warmth overtook you and you managed a, “David, I-" before you walls fluttered around his fingers. With your slick and his saliva mixing on his hand, you felt the thing in your abdomen uncoil and your orgasam rippled through you. You gripped David's shoulders, suddenly weak knees threatening to give out. 

Still pumping into you, David finger fucked you through the last throes of your orgasm. He let out a ragged breath, reaching his own a moment later. Hairstyle successfully ruined and hands covered in sticky fluids, David stared up at you through his messed up hair. You slumped down to join him on the forest floor, chest still heaving. 

After a moment, you managed, “Next time, I get to touch you.” 

“Did you, ah, like that?” David swallowed hard and wiped his hands on the grass next to him. 

You nodded and leaned against him. “I like your mouth.” David gulped again as you pressed your mouth to his, ignoring the taste on his lips. Resting your forehead to his for just a moment, you wondered if David wanted to be more than just dating. Letting out a breath you didn't realize you were holding, you got to your feet. It was getting late and even with all his meds still on board, David rarely slept past seven. You quickly got redressed, the chill in the air starting to cut through your clothes. 

The walk back to camp was a lot slower. It was mostly filled with light conversations and the occasional brush of skin under the milk light of the moon. Sneaking off to the woods with a guy had always been a stupid fantasy of yours. Who knew you would do it two times in one week with a guy who was supposed to be your boss? You bit your lip, a smile tugging at the corners of your mouth. 

You were running a hand up his back, that's when a nasally voice cut through the night air. “Well, well, well.” You spun on your heel to face to voice, eyes dancing wildly around the dark forest. Suddenly, a sharp pain hit you neck. Breathing hard, you plucked something pointy out of your aorta. A blow dart? “Campbell Campers out at this hour? And on Wood Scout territory nonetheless.” 

A coldness spread out from the prick of the dart and your vision started to cloud over. From beside you, you head David say, “Wood Scouts?” before you fell forward, hard. Everything went dark.

\---

With your back against the trunk of the smoothest tree you could find, David held you against it, pressings his lips hard to yours. The lantern had been discarded to the side, casting strange shadows onto the area. Compared earlier, David had upped his confidence, moving his hand up your shirt with less apprehension.

Smirking into the kiss, you slid one hand up the back of his shirt and the other dipped just bit below his belt. David's breath caught in his chest and he nipped at your throat. His breathing starting to become labored as you undid his belt. David pulled back, steadying himself with your shoulders. 

With a hand down the front of his pants, you asked, “Is something wrong?” 

David squeezed your nipple. “I want to to do something for you...” 

You open mouth kissed him again, “You... don't... have to,” you moaned between each kiss. 

Before you could object, David's face lit up, an idea crossing his mind, and he dropped to his knees. You saw him grimace from landing a bit too hard and he began kissing along your stomach and hip bones while fiddling with the button of your shorts. His mouth was hot on your skin and you shivered in the cool night air. Slowly, David slid your shorts and boxers to the ground, and let out a small “Ah...” as he looked you over. 

Did he like what he saw? Was this okay? God what if he didn't... You opened your mouth to tell him that he didn't have to go any further. David tentatively pumped on hand on your half hard member.. His green eyes shot up to your face. When you didn't say anything, he stroked you from base to tip. 

Your felt your breath hitch. It had been too long since someone else had touched you like this. Too long since someone had even thought of you like this. Every one of David's movements was calculated, keeping a close eye on your reactions as he pumped his hand along your hardening cock. You twisted your fingers into his hair, trying to not pull too hard.

“Oh go...sh,” you choked out. 

David was now focused on his hand moving faster up and down you, fascination crossing his features. In the pale moonlight, you could see a redness over his face, pupils blown wide. You trailed a hand around to the front of his shirt and grabbed a fistfull of the fabric, pulling David up a bit. Crashing your mouth against his, you let out another moan. 

David broke the kiss and settled back between your legs. You thought you saw him lick his lips before shooting a nervous glance up at you. Carefully, almost delicately, he ran his tongue along the underside of you cock and his other hand went to his own member. You almost said something about how it wasn't fair that you didn't get to touch him, but instead settled to struggle out his name. He wrapped his hand around the base of your cock and sucked on the tip.

Fingers moving in time with his mouth, you couldn't stop your hips from stuttering forward, bucking on his hand and deeper into his mouth. David's name became a prayer on your lips and you gripped his locks tighter. You could feel something in you abdomen coil tighter as David’s careful movements became sloppier, yet still drove you closer to your end. He moaned into you, his palm moving faster on his cock. 

God you wished you could touch him. 

You knew you were close. But the words of warning couldn't seem to form. Not with how his mouth felt on you and his palm on you. A spreading warmth overtook you and you managed a, “David, I-" before your balls pull tighter to your body. With your pre-cum and his saliva mixing on his hand, you felt the thing in your abdomen uncoil and your orgasam rippled through you and you spilled onto his tongue. David faltered for a moment at the taste before continuing his motions and swallowing around you. You gripped David's shoulders, suddenly weak knees threatening to give out. 

Still pumping his palm on you, David stroked you through the last throes of your orgasm. He let out a ragged breath, reaching his own a moment later. Hairstyle successfully ruined and hands covered in sticky fluids, David stared up at you through his messed up hair. You slumped down to join him on the forest floor, chest still heaving. 

After a moment, you managed, “Next time, I get to touch you.” 

“Did you, ah, like that?” David gulped hard and wiped his hands on the grass next to him. 

You nodded and leaned against him. “I like your mouth.” David gulped again as you pressed your mouth to his, ignoring the taste on his lips. Resting your forehead to his for just a moment, you wondered if David wanted to be more than just dating. Letting out a breath you didn't realize you were holding, you got to your feet. It was getting late and even with all his meds still on board, David rarely slept past seven. You quickly got redressed, the chill in the air starting to cut through your clothes. 

The walk back to camp was a lot slower. It was mostly filled with light conversations and the occasional brush of skin under the milk light of the moon. Sneaking off to the woods with a guy had always been a stupid fantasy of yours. Who knew you would do it two times in one week with a guy who was supposed to be your boss? You bit your lip, a smile tugging at the corners of your mouth. 

You were running a hand up his back, that's when a nasally voice cut through the night air. “Well, well, well.” You spun on your heel to face to voice, eyes dancing wildly around the dark forest. Suddenly, a sharp pain hit you neck. Breathing hard, you plucked something pointy out of your aorta. A blow dart? “Campbell Campers out at this hour? And on Wood Scout territory nonetheless.” 

A coldness spread out from the prick of the dart and your vision started to cloud over. From beside you, you head David say, “Wood Scouts?” before you fell forward, hard. Everything went dark.


	9. Tired

The first thing you noticed was that your hands were numb. The next was that your noticed were that wrists and ass were sore. It was dark. Your arms were secured behind your back and your ankles were tied with what felt like a rope. Whoever these jack holes were, you hated them. In the blackness you could make out an outline of another person strung up similar to how you were. 

If it weren't for the mussed up fluffy hair you could just barely see, you might have freaked out. With a kick, you hissed, “David!” You heard a grunt that was unmistakably got co-counselor. Yet you still didn't hear any tree names being listed off. Whatever you and he had been knocked out with had must have hit David like a truck. 

A mumble sounded through the room as he tried to wake up. It bothered you that you hadn't heard an utterance of ‘palm’ or ‘sycamore.’ Another kick. David jerked to life. “Wha? W-where a I?” 

“David! David, I'm here, calm down,” you told him through the darkness. 

You felt him stop struggling. “W-where are we?” he choked out, fear causing his voice to waver. 

“I don't know. We were going back to camp and then we woke up here,” you hissed. 

David shifted next to you so he was sitting as close to you as he could get. For a moment he didn't say anything, “The Wood Scouts.”

“Wood Scouts?” you repeated. 

“A rival camp across the lake. They're are always trying to steal out campers! I just have never seen them go this far...” he explained. “What are you up to Ed?” 

You let out a big sigh, “Well... first things... we gotta get out of here.” You ran your fingers along the rope that bound your hands. You weren't particularly flexible, but maybe if you just pulled your knees to you chest maybe you could... yes. You were able to rotate your hands around to the front of you. You we to David and began pulling at his bindings around his wrists. Blamining your ineptness on the numbness in your hands as well as the darkness, you struggled with the ropes a bit before finally freeing him. David returned the favor after rolling his now freed wrists.

“Are you doing okay?” you asked his silhouette. 

David didn't say anything for a moment, but began working on the ropes around your ankles, “As okay as I can be in a dark room where I'm not sure where I am.” You had never heard him passive aggressive, but damn he was sure trying to use it right now. You tried to catch his mouth in a kiss, trying to show him that it would be alright, instead you knocked your head against his. “Owie!” his hand went up to clasp his forehead, but succeeded in smacking you across the jaw. 

“Okay. No kissing in the dark,” you muttered, rubbing your sore jaw. 

David chuckled and just for a moment, you actually thought that everything might be okay. You began tracing around the edge of the small room. Running one hand along the wall, you discerned that it was pretty small and empty apart from the rod and had one door. Unlocked. That was... surprising. In fact, it had been too easy all around. 

You frowned into the dark hallway that now stood before you. 

Helping David up with one arm over your shoulder, you hoped that whoever these Wood Scouts are were just incompetent and you weren't walking into some trap. 

Tentatively, you moved through the hall, keeping one hand on the wall and the other secured around David's waist. David kept his arm outstretched and brushed his fingers along the other side of the hall. If you could see more than ten inches in front of you that would be great. Instead you wander around in the dark. Every door that you found was either locked or blocked and on more than one occasion you walked into a wall. 

You had traveled a hundred yards or so when you finally brushed a light switch. Immediately flicking it on, the hall lit up. Blinking into the light, you could see that you were in a rundown old house with way to many doors. Honestly, you were surprised that the electricity still worked. The hall before you opened up to a grand staircase leading up to the higher levels of the home. It was really more of a mansion and it might have been beautiful at one point. Now it was just run down and moth eaten with a destroyed chandelier. 

“This is... Oh dear,” David muttered. 

You glanced at him, “This is what?” 

“Mr. Campbell’s old summer home. On Spooky Island,” he said with more than a hit of dread. On cue, thunder cracked outside. You had heard about Spooky Island from the campers and honestly you didn’t really want to be here. Not that there was anything super dangerous, but walking in on the Quartermaster getting his freak on was not on you list of things to do this summer. But by the way David’s eyes were darting around, you had a feeling the Q.M. wasn’t the only thing on this island. 

“Then we’re getting out of here,” you commanded. David let out a whimper, but continued moving. With renewed vigor, you lead your way through the now lit mansion, flicking on lights as you moved on. David had tightened his grip on you shoulder to the point where his nails were biting into your skin. “David? I need you to let go, just a little.” 

David let go a bit, “S-sorry.” 

You rounded a corner, searching for some kind of exit, “Hey, it’s gonna be okay, okay? We’ll get out then go and save the camp from those Wood Scout ass holes.” You wish you were as confident as you sounded. Trapped on an island with no supplies or any foreseeable method to get back to camp didn't really inspire confidence. Not only did you have to get off the island, you would have to deal with whatever was going on back at camp. Letting out a heavy breath, you pushed forward. 

David was lucky he was as cute as he was because you don’t know if you could stand this job otherwise. Well, that and those kids were pretty good overall. 

Taking a short break it the living room had been a mistake. David had leaned up against an old wooden desk while you looked through some dusty bookshelves. You just had to pick up the big ominous looking one. There was a loud click and the entire wall swong around, taking you with it to the otherside. You let out a little squeak as momentum glued you to the shelves. You hear David call your name as another click sounded, locking the door in place. 

You slammed the book back into its place over and over, trying to get the secret door to swing back. “David! David, can you hear me?” you shouted into the books. You started ripping every book you could off it's shelf, trying to find one to send you back. 

You heard a muffled, “Ouch!” and “Y-yeah! Where are you? What happened?” 

“I don't know! Some kind of secret passage. I can't get it to swing back. Is there anything on your side to turn this thing back?” you called back. 

There was a pause while David searched for something to get you back. “Not that I can see!” 

“Fuck. Um, it looks like this goes somewhere, maybe I can get back to you,” you looked uncertainty at the narrow passage before you. 

“Wait! We don't want to get separated. Well, more separated,” it sounded like David slammed a hand against his side of the wall. 

You took one last glance over the bookshelf. “I don't like it either but I'm not seeing another option David.” 

“Please, just wait!” his voice cracked, “Please... don't go. We'll figure something out.” 

You knitted your brows together and pressed your hand to where you had heard the slam. “I know... But I'm not leaving you. I'm going to come back. Then we can get out of here together. Just wait for me. Okay?”

David didn't say anything for a long moment. “Be careful.”

You smirked, “Only for you.” With that, you began walking down the poorly lit corridor. The little path wound through the underbelly of the house, the brick walls brushing your shoulders as you passed. The air here stank with age and mold, and the little light bulbs that had been set into the crumbling brick were flickery at best. You tried to keep you mind on one thing, get back to David. But it kept wandering to all the things that really were not helping you stay calm. 

How the hell were were you supposed to navigate a place like this? Let alone find your way back? And if you did, how in the fuck were you supposed to fix the mess back at camp? Fuck, what had you signed up for... And here you were trying to fuck your coworker. Who barely knew the first thing about a stable relationship. 

It was getting hard to breath. The tiny little passage felt like it was pressing in and the stuffy air having long since moved wasn't helping either. Moving faster, you thought could feel a breeze up a head. Taking another breath you forced yourself to calm down. David. Get back to David. You found a small door at the end of the winding hall, a light breath of fresh air rushing from between the hinges. You threw the door open and stepped into another hallway. How original. But you welcomed the less stuffy air. And there was a light switch right next to you. 

Trying to recall which direction you had come from, you started walking back to the right. You hadn't really stumbled across anything creepy or spooky, which you counted yourself lucky. Maybe you spoke too soon. Opening a door, that you hoped lead back to the living room, you nearly walked into a kid. 

You leapt back, suppressing a surprised scream. The kid barely came up to your waist but the last thing you had expected to see was a small child. 

“Woah, woah, easy there friend,” the blond kid took a step toward you, hands raised in a nonthreatening fashion. 

“Holy shit, I didn't think anyone lived here,” you stammered, looking the kid over. 

He raised a brow at you, “Live here? No, no, no one lives here.”

“What are you from one of the camps? Who are you? And, and what are you doing all the way out here at this hour? Actually.... what is the hour?” you shot off a million questions at him. 

“It's two in the morning,” he latched onto the last question. “Dang are you doing okay?”

Pinching the bridge of your nose, you said, “Y-yeah. I'm just trying to find my...” you searched for the right word, “David.” In the dim light the kids face lit up. Did he know David? 

“Trying to find someone, huh? Well I'm sure I can help with that. I know this place like the back of my hand!” he piped and began to head in the opposite direction. “Where did you say Davey was again?”

You turned to follow him, “It's David, only Mr. Campbell calls him Davey. And he was in a living room. What did you say your name was again?”

“Jasper. I'm Jasper,” he said with a bit of flare. He then paused to think. “Living room: this way!” he spun back around and marched the way you had been going. You half smiled, but followed. Little Jasper was your best hope to getting back to David. Even if he was just as lost as you, he had been exploring the mansion probably longer. “Why are you all the way out on spooky island? Aren't you a camp counselor or something?”

You sighed, “We were kidnapped... By another camp. I guess they dumped us here thinking we wouldn't be a problem. What about you? Shouldn’t you be at your camp?”

Jasper glanced away and quickly changed the subject. “So who is this Davey guy?”

“David,” you corrected again, “He’s my.... We're dating.”

“Ohhh, that's pretty rad,” he said with a smile, “So he’s like your boyfriend?”

You pressed your lips into a thin line but didn't answer him. “Let's just find that living room.” 

Following behind that yellow t-shirt, you put the thought of who Jasper was aside and tried to ignore everything he had said. You just wanted to get out of here and back to camp. Even if the Wood Scouts were there, at least there was a warm bed waiting for you. You headed down some stairs when Jasper turned to look up at you, a somber expression beyond his years crossing his face. 

“Jasper?” 

“Davey should be just around that corner. I think I saw a boat just north of here,” he explain, a sorrowful smile meeting his lips. 

“You could come with us, we could get you back to your camp, you know David so-"

He cut you off with a shake if his head, “No can do, home skillet. My soul is doomed to be bound here for all eternity." 

Before you could ask what he meant, Jasper was standing far too close to you. And then he was touching you. But he wasn't. There was no warmth, no pressure, no nothing to indicate that another person was touching you. And then he stepped through you. Like passed through one side of your body to the other. And you felt nothing. Well a chill ran up your spine but you were pretty sure that was just from the freakyness of the whole situation. “Your... your a... you're a...”

“Ghost, apparition, spectre?” he suggested with a shrug. 

You swallowed hard, “Y- yeah. That.” 

Jasper gave you a nod before moving to walk through a wall. With one leg hanging halfway through the solid brick, he said, “Oh... and don't tell Davey. I get the feeling that now wouldn't be the best time for him to find out.” Before you could answer, he had completely disappeared into the wall, leaving you with your mouth hanging open. This camp just kept getting weirder the more you learned about it. Maybe that was just sleep deprivation. Yeah. that's it. You shook your head in an attempt to clear it and followed Jasper's instructions. 

You rounded the corner and were nearly tackled to the ground by a hug. How David made it across the room so fast with as cast on, you didn't question and just wrapped your arms back around his shoulders. “Don't ever leave again.” 

Catching the breath that David had knocked out of you, “I was gone like twenty minutes,” you said. 

“In a terrifying abandoned mansion by yourself,” he countered and pressed you harder onto his shoulder. He clung to you for a moment before wiping his face on your sleeve and righting himself. “L-let's get out of here. I found the exit that way.” 

Remembering what the ghost kid said, and using David's relatively adept sense of direction, you made your way to the boat just north of here. The darkness and exhaustion starting to take a tole, yet you climbed into the little row boat and readied yourself for whatever was on the mainland. 

If someone would have told you a month ago, you would have been rowing away from a haunted island back to your madhouse of a camp to rescue some kids from an unknown rival at three in the morning, you would have given them a weird look about their description of that very specific situation. And you would not have believed them. Yet here you were. Rowing a boat let alone was something that you would have never through of doing. And it was starting to make your arms more than a little sore. Shaking the sleep from your head, you stretched a bit before returning to pushing the boat along. David had taken over one side of the boat, so at least there was that. 

Most of the conversation had given way to the sloshing of the boat and the sound of the oar slapping the lake. A pale moon hung high up above, the silvery circle reflecting off of the water was normally a still reflection but with every stroke, ripples traveled across it. It pissed you off that such a beautiful night had been ruined by these jack-holes and their ridiculous rivalry. 

Beaching the boat near the dock, you helped David to his feet. Even though he was nearly ready to march back by himself, you could see in the little light you had, that he was going to reach his breaking point. “David? Are you... Do you have any pain?” 

David nodded, but pressed forward, “I’m a-okay! We have got to get to camp.” You gave him a frown, but his met your uncertainty with a confident smile. With a sigh, you continued on. The camp seemed unfamiliar at this hour. The dark was engulding outside the shining moon and the one street light near the mess hall. It was quiet too, no buzzing of insects nore the natural sounds of the forest could be heard. It was unnerving. You had reached the center of camp, and had yet to come across these Wood Scout guys. You had yet to come across anyone really. Not that that was so surprising, if the kids were up at this hour they would be in big trouble. 

Maybe the Wood Scouts weren’t here? Chewing your lip, you made your way to the counselors cabin for a flashlight. David hung back, keeping an eye on the door as you went checked on Gwen. She looked pretty passed out, and didn’t hear you snatch the flashlight and one of the camp constructed crutches that the kids had made. 

“I think I heard something over by the tents,” David reported and took the crutch constructed of old lumber that had been laying around the camp. You hoped he didn't get a splinter. You would never consider David a serious person. Not even when you had been stranded in the woods. But right now, his brows were drawn and mouth was pressed into a slight frown. For all the exhaustion that had been present had been replaced by determination. No one was going to hurt thoes kids. 

You’d be lying it you didn't admit it made your heart skip a beat. 

But this wasn’t the time and you shoved the thought form your head. You quickly followed after him towards the tents. Of all the places these jackasses had to pick to sabotage... Drawing closer, you could hear that nasally voice from before shouting orders. It was like that voice was burned into your head now and you shivered. 

 

Gripping the flash light tighter, you saw David take a deep breath and force a smile. “Maybe this is all a big misunderstanding. We’ll just ask Ed what he’s doing here and politely ask him to leave.” 

“Um, it's three in the morning. And they drugged us. And they dumped us on an island in the middle of the lake. I don’t think that’s what's going on...” you said. 

David let out another heavy breath, “We can only hope!” With that, you moved into the clearing at the center of the camp. Three figures were busy sewing something into the side of the tent while a fourth was standing a few feet away. You flashed the light over them, all four were dressed in a drab, brown, vaguely militaristic uniforms and all looked equally shocked to see you and David. 

“Hey Pikeman,” David said with a grin. “What are you and the Wood Scouts doing here at this hour?” 

The one standing back with the nsaily voice marched over, a smirk showing off his buck teeth. “Well, well, well, you made it off the island a lot faster than I anticipated. I must say, I’m impressed.” If you hadn’t been paying attention, you would have missed David bristel at his words for just a moment. 

“Aw, well, you know Camp Campbell Campers, we’re always prepared for anything,” David said through a smile, gritting his teeth. “It really tests our survival skills. So what brings you here?” he pressed. 

Pikeman frowned into your flashlight. “We are remodeling our new campgrounds. Once we have you and... your new counselor gone that is. Petrol!” The biggest figure stopped his crude sewing and turned and saluted the other. 

David extended the hand that wasn’t gripping the improvised crutch, trying to defuse the situation, “Wait! Wait! Guys, you can't just take the camp by force.” You lept into action ready to knock this pimple faces jackass out of here if David didn't. 

“Can’t we?” Pikeman snarked as Petrol began marching over to him. You swong the flashlight around, looking for something to help you against these brats. That’s when your light ran over a pile of... clothes? What the hell? Pausing, you could make out a bit of blue in the dark, was that Max’s hoodie?

“H-Hey Ed? What the fuck it that?” You asked, your heart dropping into your stomach. “Why are those there?” 

His yellow gaze glanced behind him, “Oh those? Just the old Campbell uniforms. When the new recruits wake up, they’ll all be in Wood Scout uniforms.” 

Your jaw dropped. They had changed their clothes. In there sleep. Or more likely drugged them with whatever they had used on you and David. Drugged the kid. A bubble of rage was starting to swell in you you. 

“Ed. I suggest you take you and your scouts and get out of here.” Those words hadn’t left your mouth. David was staring down at the scout leader. 

Barely had a “Wha-” left Pikeman’s mouth when David had bashed his fist into his nose and sent him to the ground. 

“You get out of my camp. Now,” David said in a very measured voice. In the darkness, his green eyes almost looked black as he glared at Pikeman.

“You bastard!” Ed snarled up at him with a hand clutched over his bloody nose. 

“I won't ask again,” David snapped. You were in awe. But the Wood Scouts scrambled away from him, retreating back to their own camp lead by the bloody faced Pikeman. Once the scouts had vanished into the dark, David slumped forward and sighed. “I can't believe they did that. Ugh.” 

You took his hand in yours. “Lets get some sleep. We'll take care of everything in the morning.” He nodded and followed. You were hardly subtle when you got back to the cabin, swinging to door open with more force than necessary and waking Gwen up. 

“What the fuck...?” she snapped groggily from under a pile of blankets.

“Wood Scouts,” David replied just as groggily and flopped onto his cot. Just as relieved, you dropped onto your own mattress and were asleep before you hit the pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I cannot write action. But thank so much for reading! All of your guys continued support really keeps me writing. Love you all!!


	10. The Great Outdoors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry about ther incontinence update schedule but i have been getting busy... thre should be about 2 chapters after this one I think. Thank you so much for reading! Any feedback is appreciated!

It was a week after the Wood Scouts had intruded on the. David, much to his excitement, had gotten a walking boot in place of a cast. He still hobbled about, but didn't need his crutches anymore and could much easier catch up with the kids. Pikeman hadn't returned since that night, which you were grateful for. The last thing you needed was another pile of Wood Scout uniforms to burn and another sleepless night. 

On top of all that, David had planned a few days off for you and him to go camping. Not your first choice, but he insisted you could pick where you went next time. Then he gave you puppy dog eyes when you tried to protest. So here you were packing up a few sets of clothes for tomorrow. The door slammed open making you jump. 

“Helllllllo!” David greeted you with too much cheer. “Just getting ready for our little trip are you? “ 

You gave him a small smile in return, “At least this time if we get lost or ambushed well be prepared.”

David's thousand watt smile faltered for a moment, “Well that's because they weren't really camping trips. Those were improved survival excursions. This time will be much better. I promise. Real camping is much cooler and less life threatening.” His hands had found respite on your waist. 

“You're not afraid I'll be bored then?” you smirked at him, swiping a thumb across his bottom lip. “After all our recent adventures, I might find this a bit dull.” 

The tips of his ears went a bit red, but David had become much more comfortable with the flirting aspect of your relationship. In private at least. “I have a few ideas that might keep you interested.” He pressed his mouth to yours for one moment of passion before pulling back. “Now you need to finish packing. We'll be up bright and early tomorrow ” You gave him a look of longing, but stuffed another shirt into your bag. 

True to his word, David woke you up at the crack of dawn. Groaning into the darkness, you gathered your belongings and already regretted agreeing to this. Wherever you were going better be worth it. 

Just as excited as ever, David was nearly hopping up and down by the camp mobile. Yes, you were happy to see him so happy, but this was all to reminiscent of the first day you had gone and gotten lost. What if these days had the opposite effect and made you realize how much of a mistake this relationship was? Or what if he realized how much of a mistake this relationship was? Hell, couldn't you just go back to making out behind the counselors cabin? Hell, why were you only now thinking about all of this, fuck. 

Instead, you put on your best smile and raised the Camp Campbell salute, “Hey there boyfriend!” Oh shit, had that just come out of your mouth?

David immediately stopped in his tracks, “Did you just say...” His face split in a grin, “Boyfriend?”

You paused, thinking about taking it back, “Um... Yes?” You weren't sure how he moved so fast, but he was very nearly picking you up off the ground in a hug. “Aw! Fuck, David! You’re going to hurt yourself!” you choked out as your ribs were crushed against him. 

“Do you mean that? Really?” he set you back down, but nuzzled into the spot between your neck and your shoulder. 

Regaining the ability to breath, you hugged him back. “Yeah.” He kissed you before throwing some supplies into the back seat. Okay, maybe this wouldn't be too bad. 

You were driving, but thought you'd be nice and let David pick the music. Farmers almanac on tape, again not your first choice. But you bit your lip and beared it. 

The road to wherever he had planned was bumpy and twisted back into the woods of Sleepy Peek. To make it worse, whenever the camp mobile hit a particularly rough bump, the tape skipped. 

“Turn here!” David pointed right and you turned so fast that tape jumped from October's weather predictions to November's horoscopes. The road ended and opened up into a little clearing. You parked the car near the edge and David leapt out. You followed and saw Davis standing arms wide to the sky, taking a deep breath. 

The sun had finally risen above the trees and the crisp morning air was starting to warm in the light. You were tempted to go and tickle his sides as he took in the view of the cleaning, but opted for grabbing the folded up tent out of the back seat. “So, camp man, where do you want to set up?”

David spun on his good heel. “Anywhere is good!” You frowned. “But there's a stream over there,” he quickly added. With a nod, you followed him in that direction. 

The mountains around Sleepy Peak was never something that you would consider beautiful. Striking and dangerous sure. It had some amazing views from some of the highest points, but you would have called those breath taking or maybe heart stopping. This wasn't a stream, it was more of waterfall. Granted it wasn't more than three meters tall, but over the brown and white stones cascaded a stream of water down into a pool below. Green moss and lichen covered the rocks and soil surrounding the bank and climbed up the bank till it met the lush grass. 

“David this is... beautiful,” you muttered. 

David was smiling and his eyes were so bright that you were sure there were stars in them. “You like it then?” You dropped the rolled up tent and knocked him in the arm. 

“No I’m lying. That is why I just called it beautiful. I was just trying to hurt your feelings,” you said with a roll of your eyes. David just grinned, dropped his backpack to the ground next to your supplies and went to set up the tent. You joined him, unrolling the waterproof material and trying to stake it to the ground. 

“Need a hand there?” he asked. He was already done. How did he do that with broken ribs and a broken leg? After striking your thumb with the rubber mallet, you handed it over to him with a pout. “Aw, no worries. You’ll get it, it just takes practice. Have you ever set up a tent before?”

You shook your head and pressed on your throbbing thumb. “I was never much for outdoors before this job.” 

David stood up, the tent now fully set. “I’m sorry that your experience had been... less than fun then. Buuuut now that we're here, I promise that I’ll show you that it can be cool!” he insisted, gripping your wrists. David placed a kiss on your injured thumb before rushing back to the car to grab some more supplies. You smiled after him and went to the water that was rushing near you.  
Kicking off your hiking boots and socks, you dipped your toes into the stream. It was cold that you almost such that you stepped back out, but you welcomed the numbing feeling. 

This little area was just full of life. Little fish swam in the calmer areas around the bank, insects swarming around the still water and above you could hear a meadowlark just finishing its song in the brisk morning air. You felt a arm around your waist and you glanced up at David. For a moment you didn't say anything, just pressed back into him and ran your fingers along the back of his hand. 

David took a deep breath and asked, “Do you want to get going?”

“Go? Go where?” you turned to face him. 

“Hiking! Or fishing, there's lots stuff to do out here. Or we could go and identify those trees. I know you've been getting good at it,” he pointed at you with a wink. 

You smirked at him and went to dry your feet on the grass. “How about we start with breakfast? I don’t think you ate anything before we left.” David shrugged but followed you back to the little camp you had set up. “Maybe we can go fishing later,” you added as an afterthought. “Don’t want to work that leg too hard.” 

“Really, don't worry about me. You do that more than enough,” David insisted while munching on an apple. 

With a shrug, you said, “I know. But you get hurt more than anyone I know. Anything I can do to prevent that, I will.” You saw him beaming at you out of the corner of your eye, “ And besides! I’ve never been fishing. Okay maybe once. With my dad. But that was a long time ago.” 

You finished off you breakfast and stretched up towards the sky, your back cracked loudly. “Is it too late to start fishing? In the movies they always start before dawn. And is there a lake near here?” 

“What kind of a camping trip would this be if there wasn’t a lake near here? Although I’d call it more of a pond. And it might be a bit late, but if we get started now, maybe we can catch dinner!” David tossed the apple core into the designated trash bag that he had brought along and began rummaging through one of the few coolers in the trunk. “Although, we do need to get some wood for a fire later, and get the sleeping bags set up. Oh and-” 

You interrupted him with a hand on his shoulder, “We can to that later. I promise. But let’s just have some fun. Relax a bit? Stop trying so hard to impress me for like five seconds. ” 

David thought for a moment and nodded, “Your right. Relaxing. We should do that.” From the cooler, he pulled out a small styrofoam container that you assumed was bait and two more than a little dated fishing poles. With a grin, he pointed, “This way!” You quickly scrambled for what you thought was a tackle box, two folding chairs and darted after him. Praying that this lake/pond wasn’t too far away, you boosted the chairs onto your hip and fell in step with David. 

“So do you go camping away from camp often?”

David glanced at you out of the corner of his eye, “Not as often as I would like. But thats okay. Mr. Campbell needs all the help he can get back at camp.”

You frowned at him. “You know, for as much as you admire that guy and say that he’s done all this good, I’ve only met him once. And let’s just say he was heroic mountain man and more.... Shady businessman.” 

David didn't say anything for a moment, “He’s just going through a rough patch. Once he had everything sorted out, I’m sure Mr. Campbell will be back on site when he can.” 

He looked more than a little conflicted. You knew this guy was his hero, but from your one encounter and what you had heard from Gwen all pointed to this guy being a scumbag. This was supposed to be a get away from everything and here you were challenging David about his hero. You changed the subject, “That’s a hemlock tree, right?”

His face lit up, breaking the concerned expression, “Close! That is actually a spruce. But what about...” David glanced around a bit before pointing at another conifer, “That!” 

You thought for a moment, recalling all of the trees that David had told you about in the past, “Ceder. Yes?”

“Correct,” he said with a smile. The trees gave way to a rocky bank, surrounding a lake a few hundred meters across. It wasn’t particularly large, but it looked like fish would probably gather there. At least you hoped they would. You guessed that the stream near your camp probably emptied into the body of water. Finding a relatively flat spot, you kicked the chairs open and began looking through the tackle box. It was full of boggles of all different shapes and sizes, most of them brightly colored and shiny. A few had rather dangerous looking hooks attached to the end. 

After not being sure what to use, you plucked two feathery ones out and held them to your ears. “What do you think? Not really my color, but maybe I can pull ‘em off if I-- Ow!” You had failed to notice the sharp hooks on the ends and had managed to prick your thumb. A bead of blood swelled and you dropped the lures back into the box. You popped your twice injured finger into your mouth, not even a morning gone and the outdoors were trying to beat you up. 

David produced a bandaid from a pocket, “Always prepared.” He answered before you could ask and stuck it on your thumb. 

“Yeah, a bit overly so sometimes,” you snarked back at him. He rolled his eyes at you but began to actually set up the rods with lures and what looked like fish eggs. They smelled like fish eggs at least. You wrinkled your nose. “Yummy.” 

Wish a shrug, he handed you the old rod, “If it gets us dinner, yeah? You know how to use that right?” 

The fishing pole was dated, you could tell that much when you saw them. But now, you could see that they almost looked like antiques. Still strong, but with a the plastic fishing line and brightly colored lures it looked even more dated. “No. I have no idea how to use this,” you confirmed. 

“Well, um, just watch me first,” he said, a bit of nervousness lacing his voice. “I usually teach kids so...” with a nervous laugh, he snapped the rod behind him and back over her shoulder, launching the lure far into the lake, the reel letting out a wizzz sound as it flew. 

“Oh,” you managed, “That’s... really far.” 

David glanced between you, then the lake and back again. “No worries, I'll show you.” He propped the rod up in the chair and took yours to demonstrate. Mimicking his actions from earlier, only much more slowed down, he said, “You gotta hold down this button here then when you bring it back forward you let go. Here, you try.” 

Tentatively mimicking his actions, he smiled at you. “Right! Just do it faster and let go when your bringing it back over.” David flashed you a thumbs up. Taking a deep breath you repeated the motion, snapping it from your shoulder forward and let go. The fishing rod hit the bank with smack. 

“Ah.” 

The fishing line had managed to fly into the lake still, making it about half of the way to David's. “Well... that works,” he said after a moment. 

“Does it?” you grimaced. 

David nodded, “We can give it a shot at least. I'm not really an expert at this.” 

“What? Is there an aspect of the outdoors that your not masterful at?” you teased before taking your seat. Lazily, you wound the reel, trailing the lure slowly back to you. 

David did the same, “I only picked this up for camp. Even if I'm not good at it, I should be able to teach the basics. At least that's what Mr. Campbell told me.” 

Fishing was... not exciting. It was mostly reel slowly in, cast, repeat. Admittedly, you did get better at casting by the third time and didn't throw the pole in the ground. And just enjoy the ripping water and hanging out with David was nice. Only problem was the sun was getting higher and you hadn't had so much as a nibble. And David said those weeds you caught didn't count. 

It had been a few hours of waiting in relative silence. Maybe it really was too late in the day when you started and was even more so now. You were about to suggest that you call it a day. Neither of you had much experience with this and the silence was becoming a bit numbing. You were cut off by David suddenly jumping up, winding in the hook. 

“You got something?” you jumped up with more than a hint of excitement. David nodded and continuing yanking on the pole. The fish finally was pulled to the bank. It was smaller than you thought it would be, based on how much effort it seemed was needed to reel it in. The shiny animal lay gasping in the two inches of water, glassy eye staring up at you and David. 

“Well, you caught it,” you muttered, returning it's gaze. “W... we're supposed to gut it. Right?” 

David nodded again this time with a frown. “I'm sorry fish.” Rolling a pocket knife in his palm, he knelt next to water. He held the fish still in the other and brought the blade nearer. And he stopped. “We could just let it go. It's not enough for dinner anyway.” 

You placed a hand on his shoulder, “Okay.” David flashed you a sorry smile and instead sliced the fishing line and pulled the hook out of it's jaw with a pair of pliers. The fish floated in the water for a moment and you worried that the poor thing died from fright and lack of oxygen anyway. Suddenly, it snapped go life before darting back into the depths. 

“I'm sorry,” David muttered, pocketing the tools. 

You began repacking the supplies, “Why?” 

“Because I couldn't do that,” he sighed. 

“Oh nooo, you couldn't kill an innocent creature I'm sooo mad?” you said with a hint of confusion and sarcasm. David bit his lip. “Look, it's nothing to worry about. I don't really like lake fish anyway. Taste to much like the water.”

He shrugged, “I guess.” you scowled at him. 

The walk back to your miniature camp was mostly silence. David had taken more than a little interest in his shoes and out into the distance seemed more than a good place to stare for you. You wanted to hold his hand but he was a few yards behind. Slowing your pace, you placed a hand on his wrist. David jumped a bit, somehow not noticing you were there but took your hand anyway 

“Are you just going to pout about a fish the entire trip or what?” you asked after a moment. David didn't say anything. “It's... looking like a pretty nice day so far. Maybe we can go for a hike later.” 

“Y-yeah,” he finally mumbled. 

“Yeah you want to go for a hike or yeah you're going pout the whole time?” you said with a little smirk. 

David snorted a bit, finally shattering his demeanor, “Pout the whole time. Definitely.” 

“Hey, what did I tell you about sarcasm?” you nudged him in the ribs. 

Finally making it back to camp, you repacked up the fishing supplies and scooted a chair over to the bank. This little stream was way better than that fish-less lake. David seemed to agree because he joined you and kicked off his shoe, walking cast and socks before dipping his toes on the water. 

He shivered a moment before sighing. For the first time since you had arrived he actually looked relaxed. “You know, the whole point of this was to not stress, right?” you pointed out. 

With a half a laugh he stretched towards the clouds, spine cracking loudly as he did. “I'm trying. I’m not good relaxing. Too much going on back at camp campbell.”

“What is going on back at camp? Do you actually know?” you snipped at him. 

David gave a little smile, “No.” 

“Then out of sight out of mind. Just kick back a while. Oh!” remembering one of the few things you had brought along, you hopped to you feet, “Hold on.” Jogging back to the camp mobile, you skidded to a halt and began digging through one of the coolers. You find the six pack of shitty beer that Gwen had picked up for you on her last trip into town. Finding it still relatively cold, you returned to the bank. 

David glanced up at you anxiously as you handed him a bottle. “O...oh.”

Popping the lid off with a cheap bottle opener, you took a swig and grimaced. Yup. Pretty shitty. “You don’t drink?” 

“N-no. I mean yes! I do. Just not much, I uh,” instead of finishing his thought, he took a drink and immediately started coughing. Stifling a laugh, you patted him on his back until he finally glanced up at you, tears in the corners of his eyes. “This is...”

“Awful?” you offered. 

He nodded and fought off a gag, “Yeah. Am I expected to drink the whole thing?” 

With a smirk, you took another large swallow of your own, “You don’t have too, but I thought the bad taste would take your mind off camp.” 

In reply, he took another drink and immediately followed it up with another bout of coughing. “Oh yeah.” You buried the bottom of the bottle in the sand of the bank, allowing the cool water to rush around it. “Relaxing. I am doing that.” Another swallow.  
“Hey don’t over do it, okay?” 

And another drink followed by a cough, “I’m not overdoing it.”

“Yet.”

“Yet. Exactly. Right now I’m... relaxing,” David insisted. You rolled your eyes, but let him try and down the beer. He failed, rather adorably with another coughing fit. 

“That does not sound relaxing, the opposite in fact,” you said. Forcing a smile through his reddening face, he flashed you a thumbs up. 

Hell, you did the same chugging the rest of yours in response. “God that is nasty.” David had managed to finish his, either due to actually drinking it or spitting it into the water by accident, you weren't, sure and was opening another two. “David. Slow down. It's been like ten minutes.” 

David took a deep breath and put the bottle down. 

That was probably a good idea because a few minutes later, David was already fumbling with his necktie and complaining about how it was too hot. And he dropped it in the water. Before he could forget to put his leg brace on, you had hopped up and snagged it from the current. “Relaxed yet?” You flopped back into your chair.

He took the soaked shirt back. “I’m getting there.” You shook your head, but thats when you felt a hand trailing up your leg. 

“Um?” you glanced down as his hand moved up, small circled tracing their way up to the hem of you shorts. “Can I help you?” 

Seemingly realizing what he was doing, David snapped his hand back, “Sorry! I wasn't- I didn't mean-" His face was turning red, either due to embarrassment or the one beer or both. 

You caught his hand and replaced it on your thigh, “How long have we been dating?” 

He stared up at you but continued to rub your leg, “A few weeks?” David guessed. 

“Hm, I think it's coming up on a month,” you moved to kiss him, “I think that you can touch me wherever you like. When were alone of course.”

David let out a little gasp when you kissed him. His hand made its way to the back of your head and he kissed you again. He had been slowly growing in confidence ever since hit first day in the woods together and this was no exception. Too bad sitting side by side in different chairs was not conducive. You opted for kneeling in the water in front of him and moved kisses down his body. 

You began unbuckling his belt when David caught your hand and you felt yourself internally panic. Was he going to ask you to stop again? Even out here? 

“W-wait,” he struggled out. 

As the water rushed over your legs, you asked, “You okay? I can stop. I know you've had a drink or two.”

He shook his head a bit too violently. “No, no. I... I have a better idea.” You gazed up at him, a little taken back. He grabbed his brace and scooted the chair back out of the water. Brushing your knees off and drying them with a nearby jacket, you followed after him. David had somehow set up the tent with way to many blankets covering an air mattress that he looked all to proud of. “I figured this would be more comfortable. And... um. Hold on just a moment please!”

You almost said something as he began rummaging for something in the tent. Before you could ask what he was looking for when he shoved a box into your hands, face red as a tomato. You were staring at him when he motioned for you to look down. Condoms. A box of twelve condoms. Finally you said, “You know this is only a three day trip right?”

If possible, he went redder. “I also got, um, this.” And now a small bottle of lube was in your hand too. 

“You know, we don't have-”

“I want to, okay?” he blurted out. “But, safely at least.” Glancing from him to the supplies and back again, you rolled your eyes and pulled him into the tent.


End file.
